TOKYO, May 23 (Reuters) - Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd plans to begin producing sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in Thailand next spring, taking advantage of the unused capacity at its existing pickup truck plant, a newspaper reported on Friday.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said the truckmaker would initially build 10,000 to 20,000 SUVs a year for sale in Southeast Asia.
A spokeswoman at Isuzu said the company was considering various options to enable production of more than one type of vehicle at the Thai plant, but added that nothing concrete had been decided.
Last year, the plant produced about 90,000 pickups jointly developed with U.S. car giant General Motors Corp , which owns 12 percent of Isuzu. The plant has the capacity to build 155,000 vehicles a year.
Isuzu, which is struggling to return to profit, ended U.S. production of SUVs last year due to sluggish sales, and has said it would focus more on the fast-growing Asian market for future growth.
At 0123 GMT, Isuzu's shares were up 2.88 percent at 107 yen, compared with a 1.54 percent rise in the Nikkei share average .