[Gen-AI Analysis] Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. Business Report FY ended 2013 - MarkLines Automotive Information & Gen-AI Platform

Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. Business Report FY ended Mar. 2013

Business Highlights

Financial Overview

(in billions of JPY)

	FY ended Mar. 31, 2013	FY ended Mar. 31, 2012	Rate of Change (%)	Factors
Overall
Sales	806.8	811.5	(0.6)	-
Operating income	36.4	37.0	(1.6)	-

New Company

<Mexico>
-The Company announced on September 21 that it has broken ground for its new subsidiary, Hitachi Automotive Systems Queretaro, S.A. de C.V., in Queretaro, Mexico. The new company capitalized at 224 million Mexican pesos (approximately 1,345 million yen) will manufacture suspension products and automotive equipment systems. The plant to be built on a 200,000 square meter facility will start to mass-produce suspension products initially in April 2014, with a plan to expand its product lineup in steps. Hitachi Automotive Systems is going to invest 100 million dollars (approximately 7.8 billion yen) in this project during the four-year period through 2015. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Sep. 24, 2012)

Outlook for FY ending Mar. 31, 2014

(in billions of JPY)

	FY ending Mar. 31, 2014 (Forecast)	FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 (Actual Results)	Rate of Change (%)
Sales	820.0	806.8	1.6
Operation income	41.0	36.4	12.6

Performance Objectives

-The Company has set the following performance objectives for the fiscal year that ends March 2014.

Sales: 1 trillion yen
Profit Margin: over 5%
Percentage of sales generated outside Japan: over 60%*

*This percentage is based on the sales volumes of automotive parts sold to customers' plants that assemble finished vehicles outside Japan.

R&D

R&D Expenditure

(in billions of JPY)

	FY ended Mar. 31, 2016 (Planned)	FY ended Mar. 31, 2012 (Actual Results)
Overall	80.0	58.3
Development of electronics and electrical systems	48.0	29.0

R&D Structure

-As of March 2013, the Company had 3,700 engineers working in its Global Engineering Division. This includes 530 in electronics/electric power systems development. In order to strengthen its business in the field of electronics/electric power systems development, the Company plans to double the number of engineers engaged in this field from the current 500, to 1,000, by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2013. In all, by the end of the fiscal year that ends March 2016, the Company plans to have 4,000 engineers in its Global Engineering Division.

Investment Activities

Capital Expenditure

-Between the fiscal years ending in March 2012 and March 2014, the Company plans to spend a total of 200 billion yen in capital investments. When compared to the 90.0 billion yen the Company invested between the fiscal years ending March 2009 and March 2011, this amount is 2.2 times greater. Among the total, the Company will invest 3.7 times more in electronics/electric-power systems. Also, when broken down between the amount that the Company will invest in Japan and outside Japan, the break down is 40% in Japan and 60% outside Japan.