Aisin, Denso, Sumitomo Electric, Toyota Plan Brake Venture

26 April 2001

Tokyo – Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd, DENSO Corporation, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd and Toyota Motor Corporation announced today that they plan to jointly establish in July a shared-technology brake development and sales company. The new company which will deal in both brake systems and brake parts, will be capitalised at 1 billion yen, of which 40% will be provided by Aisin, with the other three founding companies providing 20% each. Aisin will supply the president of the new company.

In recent years, the demands of customers and of society on the whole have increased the need to make cars cleaner and safer. This has led to significant changes in the required functions and performance of brake systems, which represent one of the most important functional parts of a vehicle. These changes include the following:

The growing importance of preventive safety requirements has led to increased adoption of ABS and to further development of advanced brake-system functions, such as Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) *1.
With the spread of hybrid vehicles and other clean energy vehicles, there is an increasing need for precision brake control technologies that operate in conjunction with the motor (e.g. regenerative brake systems such as that used on Toyota Prius *2 ).
Updating of brake technologies is required to adapt to automatic driving and other intelligent transport systems (ITS).
Against this background, brake manufacturers are shifting their emphasis from developing individual brake parts to developing composite brake systems.

Manufacturers, meanwhile, are tending to order complete brake systems rather than individual parts, a trend that is expected to strengthen.

Giving scope to the individual strengths of each partner while integrating their separate technologies, the aim of the new company will be to enhance the ability to develop brake systems in a timely and market-responsive fashion, allowing delivery of world-leading brake systems to the global market.

The framework for the establishment of the new company, including the proportion of capital provided by each partner, may be reviewed in light of any ruling by the Fair Trade Commission.

*1 A system aimed at preventing skidding when turning during sudden steering manoeuvres on slippery road surfaces, or in similar situations.

*2 In such systems, the motor acts as an electric generator during braking and converts the vehicle’s kinetic energy into electrical energy for storage in the battery.

Outline of New Company

Name

ADVICS Co., Ltd

Establishment

3 July, 2001

Start of operations

1 October, 2001

Business activities

Development and sale of automotive brake systems and components

Capital

1 billion yen

Ownership

40% by Aisin Seiki; 20% each by DENSO Corp., Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation

Board composition

5 directors, 4 auditors

Address

2-1, Asahi-machi, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture (on the premises of Aisin Seiki’s head office)

No. of employees

Approx. 900 on date of establishment

Products handled

ABS, vehicle stability control systems and related components

Sales target

yen 60 billion (yen 120 billion on a yearly basis) in fiscal year 2001; yen 250 billion in fiscal year 2005

Outline of Investing Partners

Aisin

DENSO

Sumitomo

Toyota

Establishment

June 1949

December 1949

December 1920

August 1937

Location

Kariya,
Aichi Prefecture

Kariya,
Aichi Prefecture

Osaka,
Osaka Prefecture

Toyota,
Aichi Prefecture

Capital

yen 41.1 billion

yen 173 billion

yen 96.2 billion

yen 397 billion

Sales

Consolidated

Unconsolidated

yen 1,000.6 billion

yen 511.6 billion

yen 1,883.4 billion

yen 1,386.9 billion

yen 1,308.6 billion

yen 723.7 billion

yen 12,879.5 billion

yen 7,408 billion

Consolidated subsidiaries

56

146

220

425

Employees (unconsolidated)

11,400

39, 500

10,000

65,290

Note: Figures as of March 31, 2000

For further information on this subject please contact:

Aisin Seiko Co, Ltd Public Relations Dept. Tel. 0566 24 8231
DENSO Corp, Corporate Communications Dept (Tokyo), Tel. 03 3273 2061
Toyota Motor Corp, Public Affairs Div (Tokyo), Tel 03 3273 2061
Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd, Public Relations Office, Tel. 06 6220 4117

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Aisin, Denso, Sumitomo Electric, Toyota Plan Brake Venture

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