ISUZU Motors Ltd, Japan's largest maker of light-duty trucks, denied claims that it's in talks with General Motors to buy the United States company's commercial truck operations.

'We haven't heard about the talks,' Naoki Ariizumi, a spokesman at Isuzu, told Bloomberg News yesterday by phone.

Detroit-based GM contacted Isuzu in mid-September to sound out the possible acquisition, Nikkei English News reported, citing unidentified people close to the matter. The deal is estimated to be worth tens of billions of yen, Nikkei said.

GM is also considering selling part of its 60-percent stake in DMAX Ltd, a joint venture with Isuzu that builds diesel engines, the report said.

GM, which has lost US$69.8 billion since 2004, is trying to increase liquidity by US$4 billion to US$7 billion before the end of next year, with asset sales and new debt.

Isuzu and GM have kept business ties, including jointly operating diesel engine factories in the US and Poland, after dissolving their 35-year equity alliance in 2006.

Isuzu surged 11 percent to 336 yen at the close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. GM was unchanged at US$11.40 in New York.