Toyota Motor to consolidate development and production of diesel engines under TICO; manual transmissions under Aisin Seiki; brake systems under Advics

29 November 2014

Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will consolidate their joint diesel engine development and production under the control of TICO. The purpose of this decision is to strengthen the competitiveness of both companies by bringing the development and production of diesel engines under one roof and enabling more efficient allocation of resources.

Further, Toyota is consolidating development and Japanese production of manual transmissions under Aisin Seiki subsidiary Aisin AI Co., Ltd. and will accelerate the consolidation of brake system engineering, manufacturing and sales under Advics, which was founded in July 2001 by Aisin Seiki, Denso, Sumitomo Electric, and TMC. (TMC, TICO, Aisin Seiki and Denso are part of the Toyota Group.)

<!——>

Diesels. The separate diesel engine development functions will be gradually consolidated under the control of TICO, which will also be responsible for the production of all new diesel engines in the future.

TICO currently manufactures gas, gasoline and diesel engines in classes ranging from 1,000 cc to 5,200 cc. Automotive engines are manufactured on consignment from Toyota Motor Corporation and are all used in Toyota-brand automobiles. The automotive diesel engines have been developed in collaboration with the Toyota Motor Corporation.

In addition to creating a more efficient business structure, this decision will also help to deepen the expertise of TICO in the development and production of even more competitive automotive diesel engines, the companies said. Furthermore, adding automotive diesel engine technology to its lift truck engine and industrial machinery fields will enable TICO to both expand the scale of its business and improve the efficiency of its development work.

This decision will allow TMC to further concentrate on the development of leading base technologies (common to both diesel and gasoline engines) and next-generation powertrain components while improving its overall powertrain system capabilities.

Manual transmissions. Aisin AI is a specialist manufacturer of manual transmissions engaging in development and production for automakers around the world. The purpose of the consolidation of manual transmission development and production is to bring the development and Japanese production of manual transmissions under one roof and allow more efficient allocation of resources.

Production of manual transmissions currently carried out at TMC’s Kinuura Plant will be transferred to Aisin AI around 2016.

This decision gives Aisin AI the potential to become one of the world’s leading specialist manufacturers in the field by further enhancing its ability to plan and make proposals related to manual transmissions. At the same time, it will also enable TMC to focus resources on the development of next-generation transmissions and related aspects of vehicle performance.

Brakes. TMC said that the acceleration of the consolidation of brake system engineering, manufacturing, and sales under the control of Advics would further strengthen the competitiveness of Toyota’s brake system business.

The purpose of this agreement is to create a fully comprehensive brake system business and further enhance the specialist expertise of Advics by accelerating the consolidation of the relevant functions under one roof.

Specifically, Aisin Seiki, Denso, and TMC will start providing development support to Advics through the dispatch of personnel and other measures from January 2015. From January 2016, manufacturing of electronically-controlled brake systems will be gradually transferred from Aisin Seiki’s Handa Plant and Denso’s Daian Plant to a new plant to be built by Advics in Handa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

This consolidation of electronically-controlled brake system manufacturing (e.g., electronic stability control units, regenerative braking systems, and hydraulic brake boosters) will be carried out in full compliance with the procedures set out in Japan’s Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade.