Kabushiki gaisha Aishin is a Japanese corporation that develops and produces components and systems for the automotive industry. Aisin is a Fortune Global 500 company, ranked 359 rankings.
Aisin was founded in 1965
In addition to automotive products, Aisin also offers life and amenity products (such as
History
The company traces its origins to 1943, when Tōkai Kōkū Kōgyō was founded as a joint venture between the
Toyota and Kawasaki Aircraft Industries to produce aircraft engines for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The company was quickly renamed Tōkai Hikōki Kōgyō after it was discovered that there was a pre-existing company with the same name.
After the war, Tokai renamed itself Aichi Kōgyō, and shifted production from aircraft parts to sewing machines and automobile parts. In 1965, Aichi Kogyo merged with auto parts manufacturer Shinkawa Kogyo 新川産業 to form Aishin Seiki Kabushiki gaisha.
In October 2019, Aisin Seiki announced that it would merge with subsidiary Aisin AW, consolidating management and renaming the company.
Subsidiaries
Aisin AW
Aisin AW was Aisin Seiki's subsidiary building automatic transmissions. It was originally established in 1969 as Aisin-Warner, a joint venture with
BorgWarner. In 1981, BorgWarner reduced its equity in Aisin-Warner to 10%,
and by 1987 had divested themselves of the remainder. Aisin-Warner was renamed Aisin AW in 1988, and merged with
parent company Aisin Seiki in 2021.
Aisin AW developed the Toyota Prius transmission
Aisin AW was based in Anjō, with another major division located in Okazaki. Two European divisions, AW Europe & AW Technical Center Europe, were located in Braine-l'Alleud (for research and development) and Baudour (for the remanufacturing of automatic transmissions and , and the production of electronic components).
Aisin AI
Aisin AI was an Aisin Seiki subsidiary spun off in July 1991 to produce manual transmissions and
, moving its headquarters to
Nishio. Until 1996, Aisin AI only client was Toyota; then
DaimlerChrysler and
Isuzu began using its products. The company later began supplying products to other companies worldwide.
Aisin AI was consolidated into Aisin AW in 2019.
Aisin USA
Aisin constructed a factory in the
United States in 1986, with production beginning in 1989. This factory in Seymour, Indiana has since been expanded and supplies components for
Honda,
General Motors, Mitsubishi,
Nissan, and
Toyota. Another factory was built in Marion, Illinois. On October 5, 2005, Aisin USA opened an testing facility near Fowlerville, Michigan. The facility, which is Aisin's first in
North America and third worldwide, is officially named FT Techno of America (FTTA), but is also known as the Fowlerville Proving Ground.
FTTA is Aisin's fifth group company in Michigan.
In 2009, the North American division and its companies were placed under a newly created entity named Aisin World Corporation of America, which was structured so that Toyota, Mitsui, and the American branch of Hino Motors have majority ownership of Aisin's North American operations.
BluE Nexus
BluE Nexus is a
joint venture company established by Aisin and
Denso in April 2019 to build powertrain systems for
. Both Aisin and Denso are members of the
Toyota Group and the Toyota Motor Corporation has a 10% stake in the company. The main product from BluE Nexus is the e-Axle, which integrates an electric motor, gears and inverter. BluE Nexus will also market the hybrid drive systems produced by Aisin AW.
IMRA
IMRA (Institut Minoru de Recherche Avancée) is a
research organization founded in 1986 in
Sophia Antipolis, France.
It has three entities based in Europe, US, and Japan, which have become the key power of Aisin group to conduct R&D and offer technological consulting. The American division, IMRA America, was founded in 1990 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
IMRA mainly conducts research on biomedical, battery and produces femtosecond lasers.
Sponsorship
The company sponsors the
SeaHorses Mikawa, the 5-time champions of the JBL Super League, and has sponsored Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe since 2012.
NASCAR
Aisin AW currently sponsors
Austin Hill in the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series. Hill drives the #61
Toyota Supra and #16
Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing Enterprises. HRE's first win came at Atlanta Motor Speedway with
Brett Moffitt, whose truck was also sponsored by Aisin, in 2018.
HRE and Moffitt also won the CWTS championship that same year.
Aisin AW also sponsored the team in the ARCA Menards Series.
See also
External links
