MITSUBA Corporation Business Report FY ended Mar. 2015
Business Highlights
Financial Overview |
(in million JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2015 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 | Rate of change (%) |
Factors | |
| Overall | ||||
| Sales | 306,030 | 272,543 | 12.3 | - |
| Operating income | 22,096 | 17,054 | 29.6 | - |
| Ordinary income | 25,231 | 20,441 | 23.4 | - |
| Net income | 11,434 | 7,028 | 62.7 | - |
| Transportation equipment components | ||||
| Sales | 293,601 | 261,005 |
12.5 |
-Higher unit production levels of automobiles in North American and China. |
| Operating income | 21,246 | 16,275 | 30.5 | -Higher sales combined with effective rationalization initiatives. |
New Company
<Mexico>
-The Company announced that it will establish a new manufacturing subsidiary in Nuevo Leon, Mexico in February 2015. The new company, which will be called Corporacion Tatsumi de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., will produce electric and braking parts for automobiles and motorcycles, starting in January 2016. It will be capitalized at USD 10 million (approximately JPY 1.18 billion), of which 40% will be provided by Mitsuba and 60% will be provided by Tatsumi Corporation, Mitsuba's Japanese subsidiary. Shigeru Okajima, president of Tatsumi, will assume the presidency of the new company. Mitsuba already has a subsidiary to produce automotive small motors and wiper systems in Mexico. By enhancing its production structure in the country, the company aims to meet growing demand in North America and improve its competitiveness in the market. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on December 22, 2014)
Mid-term Management Plan
-The Company has announced its 10th mid-term business plan for a three-year period ending March 2017 (FY 2016). Its major goal is to achieve annual sales of JPY 320 billion, which will be an 11.7 percent increase from the result in FY 2013. The Company is poised to meet its target by strengthening support for automakers that are stepping up local production and sales on a global scale. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on May 10, 2014)
Outlook for FY ending Mar. 31, 2016 |
(in million JPY) |
| FY ending Mar. 31, 2016 (Forecast) |
FY ended Mar. 31, 2015 (Actual Results) |
Rate of Change (%) |
|
| Sales | 320,000 | 306,030 | 4.6 |
| Operating income | 23,000 | 22,096 | 4.1 |
| Ordinary income | 23,000 | 25,231 | (8.8) |
| Net income | 13,000 | 11,434 | 13.7 |
-The Company forecast its sales for fiscal year that ends March 2016 will increase by 4.6% compared to the result of FY ended March 2015, due to the increase of product sales to Honda.
>>>Financial Forecast for the Next Fiscal Year (Sales, Operating Income etc.)
R&D Expenditure |
(in million JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2015 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 | |
| Overall | 10,631 | 10,364 | N/A |
-From the fiscal year ending in March 2015, in addition to posting standard R&D expenses, the Company will also include expenses incurred for designing prototypes of new products and making major improvements to existing products.
R&D Structure
-In Japan, R&D activities at the Group are mainly conducted at the Mitsuba Technical Center in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture; and at the Yokohama Technical Center.
-Outside Japan, the Company has technical centers in the U.S.A., Italy, Germany, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and China. These centers work in close collaboration with the centers in Japan while continuing to globalize the Company's R&D capacities.
-In further developing advanced technologies, the Company collaborates with external organizations such as universities, the Tsukuba office of the National Institute for Materials Science, and others, conducting joint R&D activities.
R&D Activities
-The Company is conducting R&D activities on new actuators, which form the basis of its core technology in the areas of motor technology and control technology; and on keys, which form the basis of component technology. Also, the Company is working on developing new systems in which advanced control technology, new sensor technology, and drive principles have been incorporated.
-The Company launched production of the following products during the fiscal year that ended March 2015.
- Front wiper system
- Rear wiper system
- Window washer system
- Door mirrors
- Horns
- Power window motor
- Seat motor
- Sun roof motor
- Power sliding door system
- Fan motor
- Electric power steering motor
- Starter motor for four-wheel vehicle
- AC generator
- Controller
-Currently, the Company is conducting joint R&D activities in the area of component technology to raise product reliability, researching next-generation systems and actuators.
Product Development
Mechatronical integration oil pump
-The Company released a compact but powerful electric oil pump, which is a mechatronical integrated, brushless-motor pump. Three functions were integrated into the single-unit pump, i.e., hydraulic supply, cooling, and lubrication for drive transmission clutches in hybrid systems. Better fuel economy was achieved by electrifying conventional hydraulic operations. Production of this pump started from September 2014 and it is being equipped on hybrid vehicles.
Technology Licensing-in Agreement |
(As of Mar. 31, 2015) |
| Contractor Name |
Name of other party |
Agreement Details | Contract Period |
| The Company | Donnelly (USA) |
License agreement on rearview mirror systems fixed on the body, including turn signal light. | Oct. 2005 - Mar. 2022 |
Technology Licensing-out Agreement |
(As of Mar. 31, 2015) |
| Partner | Agreement Details | Contract Period |
| Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp. (Taiwan) |
Production technology license and operational license for motorcycles / automobiles electric parts | From Aug. 1998 (automatic renewal) |
| Armstrong Auto Parts Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) |
Production technology license and operational license for motorcycles / automobiles electric parts | From May 1992 (automatic renewal) |
| Smith (South Africa) |
Licensing of manufacturing technology for wiper motors for automobiles | From Mar. 1979 (automatic renewal) |
| APM Automotive Holdings Berhad (Malaysia) |
Licensing of technology for wiper motors and washers etc. for automobiles | Apr. 2007 - Apr. 2017 |
| ACS (Korea) |
Licensing of technology for producing electronic components for automobiles | From 2008 (automatic renewal) |
Capital Expenditure |
(in million JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2015 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 | |
| Overall | 16,854 | 17,536 | 18,093 |
| -Transportation equipment components | 16,511 | 17,043 | 17,874 |
-During FY ended March 2015, the Company mainly invested in power-window motors and wiper motors four-wheel vehicles.
Investment outside Japan
<Vietnam>
-In responding to the growing ASEAN Region market, the Company expanded the Amata Plant and the new facilities started operating in October 2014. By expanding the plant, the Amata Plant now exclusively produces electric components for motorcycles and the Loteco Plant produces only electric components for automobiles.
Planned Capital Investments |
(As of Mar. 31, 2014) |
| Name | Facility type | Planned investment amount (in million JPY) |
Construction start month |
Planned completion month |
| The Company | ||||
| R&D Center | R&D facilities | 734 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Akagi Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 403 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Niisato Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 818 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Onishi Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 117 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Tone Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 404 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Tomioka Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 697 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Fukushima Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 101 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Niigata Plant | Machinery to manufacture new products | 235 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Subsidiaries outside Japan | ||||
| Mitsuba M-Tech Vietnam Co., Ltd. | Plant building and production facilities | 1,254 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Corporacion Mitsuba de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. | Machinery to manufacture new products | 816 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
| Mitsuba Philippines Corporation | Machinery to manufacture new products | 780 | Apr. 2015 |
Mar. 2016 |
-The Company will invest a total of JPY 54 billion in plants and equipment during three fiscal years from April 2013 to March 2017. Mitsuba will increase its capital investment by 13.2% from that of the past three fiscal years because the intake of orders mainly from Japanese automakers is increasing. Its production capacity needs to be expanded especially in China, India and other Asian countries. In the Philippines, the company's production volume of small motors is expected to increase by 1.8 times in line with the growing demand in the U.S. Mitsuba will further expand its production outside Japan as its sales from electric motor parts and German automakers are increasing. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on December 12, 2014)