TOKYO Reuters) - Truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd said yesterday it would cut 9,700 jobs over the next three years in one of the biggest ever shake-ups in Japan's auto industry, aiming to push the loss-making GM affiliate back into the black.

Isuzu said the 26 percent cut in its 38,000 strong work force was part of a midterm business plan that targeted a more than 30 billion yen ($249 million) net profit in the 2004/05 business year after red ink for the past two years.

Japan's top maker of light trucks, which is owned 49 percent by General Motors Corp, said its group net loss narrowed to 66.79 billion yen in the latest year to March 31, from a loss of 104.19 billion yen a year earlier.

The loss was in line with the company's latest forecast and reflected slack sales, heavy costs to support dealers and bigger appraisal losses on securities holdings, the automaker said.

Under the revival plan - the latest in a series of restructuring efforts by debt-laden Japanese automakers - Isuzu said it would close a domestic plant in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, by the end of 2005.

It also plans to shift its domestic production base for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to its US unit's plant in Indiana to improve effectiveness in output.

"We call this midterm plan the 'V plan', not only because it stands for victory but also because it stands for V-shaped recovery," Isuzu President Yoshinori Ida told a news conference.

Isuzu also unveiled broad collaboration with American partner GM, which has been actively investing in Asia, taking stakes in Japanese automaker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the maker of Subaru brand cars, and minivehicle maker Suzuki Motor Corp.