Isuzu's history began in 1916, when Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd. plan a cooperation with the Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Co. to build automobiles. The next step is taken in 1918, when a technical cooperation with Wolseley Motors Limited is initiated, meaning exclusive rights to the production and sales of Wolseley vehicles in East Asia.[3] In 1922 the first Wolseley model, the A-9 car, is domestically produced. The CP truck follows two years later; 550 of these are built until 1927.[4] In 1933, Ishikawajima Automotive Works merges with DAT Automobile Manufacturing Inc. (a predecessor of Datsun) and changes its name to Automobile Industries Co., Ltd. The products of this company, marketed as "Sumiya" and "Chiyoda",[3] were renamed Isuzu (after the Isuzu River) in 1934, following a meeting with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI). The word Isuzu translated into English means "fifty bells" - hence the focus on "bell" in both the later Bellel and the Bellett.