Hitachi Astemo’s first order will be to ramp up EV, self-driving tech

According to The Asahi Shimbun, newly minted automotive parts supply behemoth Hitachi Astemo Ltd., expecting a windfall from the development of electric and self-driving vehicles and other technologies, is expanding in scale to capitalize on the opportunity.
Hitachi Astemo President and CEO Brice Koch said he intends to make the company a global leader in CASE (connected, autonomous, shared and electric) technologies at a Jan. 18 online news conference to unveil the company's business strategy.
Hitachi Astemo became Japan's third-largest auto parts maker this year through a merger of four auto parts suppliers affiliated with Hitachi Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Its capacity is topped only by Denso Corp. and Aisin Seiki Co., which are affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp.
The company anticipates a 30 percent rise in sales from the business year ending in March 2020 to roughly 2 trillion yen (US$ 19 billion) in the business year ending in March 2026 due to growth in the market for next-generation technologies such as electric and self-driving vehicles.
Hitachi and Honda struck a basic deal to merge the four companies in October 2019.
In January this year, Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd., which was a wholly owned Hitachi subsidiary, absorbed and merged with Keihin Corp., Showa Corp. and Nissin Kogyo Co., which had been turned into wholly owned subsidiaries by Honda.
Hitachi has a 66.6 percent stake in Hitachi Astemo. Honda owns the remaining 33.4 percent.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14131430

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