Yorozu Corporation Business report FY2008
Business Highlights
Financial Overview | (in millions of JPY) |
FY2008 | FY2007 | Rate of change (%) | Factor | |
Sales | 112,658 | 118,784 | (5.2) | -Sales decreased year-on-year due to a large drop in demand in Japan and North America, as customers reduced their production volume in the fourth quarter. |
Operating Profit | 6,374 | 7,733 | (17.6) | - |
Ordinary profit | 7,468 | 6,460 | 15.6 | -Ordinary profit increased year-on-year because of a gain on foreign currency translation. |
Current net profit | 3,194 | 5,392 | (40.8) | -Net profit fell from what it was last year due to an impairment loss incurred by closing down its U.S. subsidiary; and due to re-evaluating the value of its securities. |
Business Performance by Region
<Japan>
-Sales of automotive components in Japan fell from what they were last year, as plunging vehicles sales in the fourth quarter forced automakers including Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., the Company's major customer, to reduce production volume. As a result, Nissan procured less volume from the Company. Sales of dies and jigs also decreased due to fewer launches of new vehicle models.
<North America>
-Sales in North America also contracted, hit by a sharp decline in vehicle sales in the fourth quarter.
<Asia>
-Although vehicle sales fell continuously in Thailand after the fourth quarter, overall revenue in Asia achieved a year-on-year increase, thanks to stable vehicle production in China and Thailand.
-Sales increased at Yorozu Bao Mie Automotive Co., Ltd., which won new program business from both Dongfeng Nissan and Honda Guangzhou.
Supply Agreements
-Front suspension members, rear suspension members, and links for the Nissan Teana.
-Rear beams, links, and member stays for the Nissan Cube.
-Front suspension members, rear beams, and lower arms for the Honda Life.
-Links for the Toyota Camry, which Toyota produces at its plants including the one in Kentucky.
-Front and rear subframes and other parts, which will be supplied to Honda's three plants in North America.
Recent Developments Outside of Japan
<North America>
-The Company will increase production of suspension parts for Toyota and Honda in North America.
>>>See Investments for more details
Reorganization Activities
<Japan>
-The Company decided to postpone rebuilding its technical center headquarters building in the fiscal year ending in March 2009. The technical center headquarters is located in Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City. The Company made this decision as a means to trim its yearly capital investment costs by over 1 billion yen. Instead of constructing a new building, however, the Company decided to renovate the general headquarters building so as to be able to house the technical center. It is forecasting the costs to demolish the old build, reconstruct the new, and move the technical functions would cost several hundred millions of yen. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Apr. 7, 2008)
-The Company announced that it would stop operations at three of its four domestic plants for the total of nine working days in January 2009. This was based not only on its original production plans but also on its forecast that further cuts in production will be needed in February and March 2009. Since it has business with all the automakers in Japan, a serious slump in auto sales significantly impacts the Company directly. The plants where the Company will reduce the number of operating days are as follows: Yorozu Tochigi Corp. located in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture; Yorozu Oita Corp. located in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture; and Shonai Yorozu Corp. located in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Jan. 9, 2009)
-The Company announced that it would transfer the operations being conducted at Yorozu Automotive Mississippi, Inc. (YAM) to Yorozu Automotive Tennessee, Inc. (YAT). The Company expects the transfer to take place around December 2008. Mississippi-based YAM supplies suspension parts to Nissan and General Motors, primarily for their truck models. Even though the production operations at YAM will be transferred to YAT, the Company will ensure seamless deliveries of the products currently shipped out of YAM to existing customers. (From a press release on Oct 1, 2008)
Business plans
Medium-term business plan "Yorozu Success Plan" through 2011
Financial targets by FY2011
On a consolidated basis:
-Sales of more than 130 billion yen
-Operating profit margin of over 6 percent
Business forecasts for FY2009 | (in millions of JPY) |
FY2008 (actual) |
FY2009 (forecast) |
Rate of change (%) | |
Sales | 112,658 | 76,000 | (32.5) |
Capital investment | 5,080 | 6,579 | 29.5 |
Sales by Major Customer | (in millions of JPY) |
FY2008 (actual) |
FY2009 (forecast) |
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Sales | Percentage (%) | Sales | Percentage (%) | |
Nissan Group | 59,166 | 52.5 | 47,566 | 62.6 |
GM Group | 21,018 | 18.7 | 8,543 | 11.2 |
Honda | 16,660 | 14.8 | 9,338 | 12.3 |
Isuzu | 4,868 | 4.3 | 2,472 | 3.3 |
Toyota Group | 4,086 | 3.6 | 2,876 | 3.8 |
Ford, Mazda | 2,524 | 2.2 | 1,913 | 2.5 |
Suzuki | 1,265 | 1.1 | 995 | 1.3 |
Others | 3,071 | 2.8 | 2,297 | 3.0 |
Total | 112,658 | 100.0 | 76,000 | 100.0 |
Sales by Geographic Area | (in millions of JPY) |
FY2008 (actual) |
FY2009 (forecast) |
Rate of change (%) | |||
Sales | Percentage (%) | Sales | Percentage (%) | ||
Japan | 41,903 | 35.3 | 35,778 | 45.0 |
(14.6) |
USA | 51,037 | 43.1 | 27,790 | 34.9 | (45.5) |
Asia | 25,597 | 21.6 | 15,991 | 20.1 | (37.5) |
R&D
R&D Expenditure | (in millions of JPY) |
FY2008 | FY2007 | FY2006 | |
Overall | 1,722 | 1,214 | 1,327 |
R&D Structure
-The Company will reinforce its development functions in North America by increasing the number of development personnel in the U.S. to 16 from the present 11, to enhance design and analysis capabilities. The Company, having sent five to six engineers from Japan to handle each new project in the past, will develop a more autonomous structure for application engineering in its North American subsidiary by making the development function in the U.S. more independent. Increased personnel will be staffed at Yorozu America, Corporation (YA) in Farmington Hills, Michigan. YA plays a central role in overseeing development and purchasing operations of four production sites the Company has in the U.S. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Apr. 18, 2008)
Technological Contracts (As of March 2009)
Name | Country | Contract coverage | Period |
Thyssen Krupp Automotive Talent chassis | UK | The Memorandum covers the supply of front suspensions for the GM Ypsilon, upon which Thyseen Krupp will pay fees to Yorozu contingent upon the volume of business it wins for the suspensions. | May, 2000 - Until production of the Ypsilon in Europe is terminated |
DK Austech Co., Ltd. | Korea | To license (on a non-exclusive basis) assembling and manufacturing technology and expertise on front suspension members, transverse links and rear suspensions for passenger cars manufactured at Renault Samsung. (The passenger car is known as the Teana in Japan.) | March 2, 2004 - Until production of the relevant vehicle is terminated |
Auto chassis International |
France |
The Contract covers various business activities for rear beams for passenger cars (the YN2 and the YN3) manufactured by Suzuki in France and in Europe. ACI is in charge of design and development of the relevant part and Yorozu is in charge of production engineering, preparatory work for mass-production and production activities in Japan. ACI has given Yorozu a non-exclusive license. | January 1, 2003 - Until production of the relevant passenger cars is terminated |
The Contract covers various business activities for rear beams for a passenger car (the YN5) manufactured by Suzuki in China. ACI is in charge of design and development of the relevant part and Yorozu in charge of production engineering, preparatory work for mass-production and production activities in China (YBM). ACI has given Yorozu a non-exclusive license. | May 1, 2005 - Until production of the relevant passenger car is terminated |
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Jay Bharat Maruti Ltd. | India | To sell dies and equipment to JBML relating to rear beams for the Suzuki YN4; to provide technical assistance through dispatching engineers and other means. | Seven years from January 4, 2005 |
To license out non-exclusive rights to produce rear
beams the Company designed and developed for the Suzuki YV4.
To sell related production equipment to manufacture these products
and dispatch engineers to give technical assistance. |
March 1, 2009 - Until production of the relevant vehicle is terminated |
Investment Activities
Capital Investment | (in millions of JPY) |
FY2008 | FY2007 | FY2006 | |
Overall | 5,080 | 6,678 | 10,098 |
<Japan>
-The Company invested 2,870 million yen in Japan in order to set up production lines for new vehicle models.
<North America>
-Yorozu America, Corporation put an advanced technology analysis tool into service in order to enhance its development capabilities. Investment in the region totaled 855 million yen including expenses for setting up production lines for new vehicle models.
<Asia>
-Capital investment in Asia totaled 1,355 million yen. Major investment activities included revamping the CAD system in Thailand, which improved the plant's capability to develop dies and production equipment, as well as setting up production lines for new vehicle models.
Investments outside Japan
<North America>
-The Company will increase production of suspension parts for Toyota and Honda at Yorozu Automotive Tennessee, Inc. (YAT), located in Morrison, Tennessee; and at two other plants in North America. It will increase production because it received orders for links that will be installed on the Toyota Camry, which Toyota produces at its plants in Kentucky and elsewhere. It will also increase its production capacity for producing front and rear subframes and other parts for the three Honda plants in North America. In FY 2008 approximately 1.6 billion yen will be invested to boost its level of production and make adjustments to accommodate new vehicle models as well. Currently Honda is the Company's third largest customer and Toyota is the fourth, based on total consolidated sales. However, the amount of business with both companies has been growing every year, making up for the loss of business with Nissan and General Motors. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Jun.27, 2008)
New Facilities (As of Mar. 2009)
Business establishment | Purpose | Planned investment (thousand yen) |
Start | Planned completion |
Subsidiaries | ||||
Yorozu Automotive Tennessee, Inc. (USA) | Installing additional facilities | 346 | Jan. 2009 | Dec. 2009 |
Yorozu Mexicana SA. de C.V. | Installing facilities for new vehicle models | 191 | Dec. 2009 | Feb. 2011 |
Yorozu (Thailand) Co., Ltd. | Installing facilities for new vehicle models | 967 | Jan. 2009 | Dec. 2009 |
Yorozu Bao Mie Automotive Co.,Ltd. | Installing facilities for new vehicle models | 411 | Jan. 2009 | Dec. 2009 |