KYB Corporation

Company Profile

■URL

https://www.kyb.co.jp/english/

■Address

World Trade Center Building South Tower 28F, 2-4-1 Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-5128, Japan

Business Overview

-Major manufacture producing hydraulic and automotive components and products, such as automotive shock absorbers and power steering systems.

‐The Company operates four business divisions.

  • Automotive Components (AC): Manufacture and sale of buffers and devices for automobiles and hydraulic buffers for products used on motorcycles.

  • Hydraulic Components (HC): Manufacture and sale of hydraulic devices for industrial use.

  • Aviation Equipment: Manufacture and sale of aircraft take-off/landing devices, aircraft steering devices, control units, and emergency devices. (Exiting business, as announced in February 2022)

  • Specialty Vehicle and Electronic Devices: Manufacture and sale of specialty vehicles

-Automotive hydraulic buffers accounted for the largest share of sales, at 46.9%.

Featured report

2023 Business Overview of Japanese Suppliers

 Featured report

Shareholders

-Moved to the Prime market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (As of Mar. 31, 2023)
Name or Company name Investment Ratio (%)
The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (Trust account) 11.03
Toyota Motors, Ltd. 7.69
The Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd.  4.04
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company 3.93
KYB Cooperative Stock Ownership Plan 3.85
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. 3.49
Mizuho Trust & Banking Co., Ltd. Retirement Benefits Trust Mizuho Bank Account 2.39
Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, Ltd. 2.31
Mizuho Bank, Ltd. 1.92
KYB Employee Stock Ownership Plan 1.90
Total 42.57

Products

Automotive Components
Shock Absorbers
-Shock absorbers with hydraulic rebound stopper
-Adjustable damping shock absorbers with proportional solenoid
-Prosmooth: Shock Absorbers with Improved Sliding Properties
-Swing Valve: Ultra-low Velocity Valve
-Frequency sensitive shock absorbers: HARMOFREQ with proportional solenoid

Electric Power Steering Components
-Steer-By-Wire Steering Gear Box
-Steer-By-Wire ECU
-Steer-By-Wire Reaction Force Motor
-Dual pinion Assist EPS
-Add-on EPS actuator

Power Steering Components
-Hydraulic power steering vane pumps for passenger vehicles

CVT Components
-Vane pumps for CVT

History

Nov. 1919 Kayaba Research Center founded by Shiro Kayaba.
Jan. 1927 Kayaba Seisakusyo established for manufacturing of hydraulic damping gear, catapults, etc. for aircraft.
Mar. 1935 Kayaba Manufacturing Co., Ltd. established.
Jul. 1943 Gifu South Plant established.
Nov. 1948 Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd. established (based on the Corporate Reconstruction and Reorganization Act).
Oct. 1959 The Company's stock listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Mar. 1970 Capital participation in Yung Hwa Machinery co., Ltd. in Taiwan.
Mar. 1973 The Company moved its R&D Center (now called the Basic Technology Research Facility) to Sagamihara, Kanagawa.
Jul. 1974 Sales company established in the United States.
May 1975 Sagami Plant established.
Nov. 1980 Deming Prize received for TQC activities.
Oct. 1985 Company name "KAYABA" in Japanese changed from kanji (Chinese characters) to katakana (Japanese Characters).
Mar. 1995 The Company announced a new management philosophy, "creativity, spiritedness, and love" to commemorate the Company's 60th anniversary.
Jan. 1996 Established Siam Kayaba Company Limited to produce hydraulic buffering devices in Thailand.
Jun. 1996 Established Kayaba Arvin S.A. to produce hydraulic devices in Spain.
Oct. 1996 Established Thai Kayaba Industries Company Limited to produce hydraulic devices in Thailand.
Oct. 1996 Four plants, including the Gifu North Plant, awarded the TPM Special Award. Urawa Plant Awarded the same prize in October 1997.
Oct. 1997 Gifu South (Motorcycle Parts) Plant received ISO9001 certification; All other plants received the same certification by March 1998.
Nov. 1998 Established a joint venture, Arvin Kayaba LLC, to manufacture hydraulic buffering devices for vehicles, based on a merger with KYB Industries, Inc. and Arvin Industries, Inc. Group of the US.
Dec. 1998 Established a holding company, Kayaba USA Holdings, Inc. in the USA.
(Dissolved in December 2001)
Sep. 2000 Concluded a "Strategic Partnership Contract" with Visteon (USA) to design and develop power steering systems and to supply products globally.
Main Points
1. Global, cooperative and mutual supply of steering products and components.
2. Joint development of steering products, focusing on electronic power steering.
3. Mutual exchange of existing technology related to steering products.
Terminated this contract in January 2003.
Dec. 2000 Established a joint-venture shock absorber production site, Arvin Kayaba Brazil Limited, with ArvinMeritor (US) in the south of Brazil. The company will start production in 2001.
Feb. 2001 All domestic factories received ISO 14001.
Apr. 2001 Announced that it would dissolve the joint venture company established with ArvinMeritor (US), Arvin Kayaba (AK), in the fall of 2001, and continue operating AK's Franklin, IN factory as a wholly-owned subsidiary. It aims to quickly rebuild the business. The two companies will continue their joint ventures to develop business in Europe, etc.
Oct. 2001 Established KYB Manufacturing North America Inc. in the US, a production and sales base for hydraulic shock absorbers for four-wheeled vehicles. The new company will take over the businesses formerly conducted by the dissolved Arvin Kayaba LLC, It started operations.
Oct. 2002 Established Kayaba Vietnam Co., Ltd., a production and sales base for hydraulic shock absorbers for two-wheeled vehicles.
Dec. 2002 In China established KYB Industrial Machinery (Zhenjiang) Ltd. that produces hydraulic shock absorbers for four-wheeled vehicles.
Aug. 2003 Established KYB Manufacturing Czech s.r.o. that produces and sells hydraulic shock-absorbing products in the Czech Republic.
Feb. 2004 Established KYB Hydraulics Industry (Zhenjiang) Ltd. that manufactures and sells industrial hydraulic products in China.
Apr. 2004 Merged Nippon Power Steering Co., Ltd.
Jun. 2004 Acquired Trondule Co., Ltd. that manufactures and sells electric parts, making it into a consolidated subsidiary.
Jul. 2004 Spun-off the Company's System Device Division and consolidated its operations into Nihon Koki Co., Ltd. At the same time, Nihon Koki integrated Kayaba-Rae Stage Co., Ltd., and was renamed as Kayaba System Machinery Co., Ltd.
Nov. 2004 Established KK Hydraulics Sales (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. to market the Company's and its subsidiaries' products in China.
Dec. 2004 Established KYB Latinoamerica S.A. de. C.V. in Mexico to market the Company's and its subsidiaries' products in Central and South America.
Feb. 2005 Established KYB Asia Co., Ltd. in Thailand to market the Company's and its subsidiaries' products in Southeast Asia.
Jun. 2005 Established KYB Middle East FZE, which is currently a consolidated subsidiary to market products manufactured by the Company and its subsidiaries in the Middle East and Africa.
Oct. 2005 Adopted a new commercial-use company name, KYB Co., Ltd., in addition to its formal name of incorporation, Kayaba Industry Co., ltd.
Oct. 2006 Made Takako Industries, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary through a stock acquisition. Takako manufactures hydraulic equipment parts and other parts.
Aug. 2008 Acquired an existing Chinese manufacturer and seller of hydraulic shock absorbers for motor cycles, establishing it as Wuxi KYB Top Absorber Co., Ltd.
Oct, 2008 Established KYB Advanced Manufacturing Spain, S.A. (currently a consolidated subsidiary) to manufacture and sell automotive hydraulic shock absorbers.
Dec. 2009 Established KYB Headquarters GmbH in Germany to oversee European subsidiaries of the Company.
Jul. 2010 Established KYB China Investment Company for the purpose of managing its subsidiaries in China. (It is currently a consolidated subsidiary.)
Sep. 2010 Established KYB Panama S.A. for the purpose of selling the Company's and the Company's subsidiaries' products to countries in Central and South America. (It is currently a consolidated subsidiary.)
Nov. 2010 Made Yanagisawa Co. Ltd. (currently KYB-YS Co. Ltd.) into its wholly owned subsidiary through a stock exchange, for the purpose of further strengthening Group management.
Jul. 2011 Established the KYB Technology and Testing Center, designed to exclusively engage in the development and testing of devices for two-and four-wheel vehicles.
Oct. 2011 Merged the operations of KYB Manufacturing North America, Inc. and KYB America LLC in order to strengthen its business presence and operations in the U.S.A. Although KYB Manufacturing North America, Inc. is the surviving company, the corporate name was changed to KYB Americas Corporation, which is currently a consolidated subsidiary.
Apr. 2012 Established Electronics Technology Center within the premises of the Basic Technology R&D Center at the Sagami Plant.
Apr. 2012 Established KYB Europe Headquarters B.V. in the Netherlands, which is a holding company to oversee the Group's operations in Europe.
Jul. 2012 Established LLC KYB Eurasia (it is currently a consolidated subsidiary) to sell aftermarket products in Russia and former CIS countries.
Oct. 2012 Established KYB Mexico S.A. de C.V. in Mexico to manufacture and sell CVT hydraulic pumps.
Dec. 2012 Established KYB Motorcycle Suspension India Pvt. Ltd. in India to manufacture and sell hydraulic shock absorbers for motorcycles.
Jan. 2013 Established KYB CHITA Manufacturing Europe s.r.o. in the Czech Republic to manufacture and sell aftermarket suspension springs for four-wheel vehicles.
Feb. 2013 Acquired shares in Indian concrete mixer truck manufacturer Conmat Systems Pvt. Ltd., turning it into its subsidiary. The subsidiary is currently called KYB-Conmat Pvt. Ltd.
Sep. 2014 Established Chennai branch in India for procurement activity.
Oct. 2015 Adopted KYB Corporation as the new corporate name, changing it from Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd.
Apr. 2016 Absorbed the operations of KYB Hydraulics Industry (Zhenjiang) Ltd. into KYB Industrial Machinery (Zhenjiang) Ltd. that became the surviving company, in order to strengthen the management framework in China; and absorbed the operations of KYB-CADAC Co., Ltd. into KYB-YS Co., Ltd. to strengthen the management framework in Japan.
Apr. 2017 Merged KYB Asia Co.,Ltd. and KYB Technical Center(Thailand)Co.,Ltd. (engineering service provider), both in Thailand, reorganizing them into KYB Asian Pacific Corp. Ltd., a consolidated subsidiary to provide services to support sales, technology development, quality assurance, procurement and IT of KYB's production sites in Asia.
Apr. 2018 Established the European Technical Center in Munich, Germany as a branch of KYB Europe GmbH, the European controlling company also located in Germany, in order to increase R&D functions developing automotive parts in Europe.
Jun. 2018 Acquired additional shares in KYB-Mando do Brasil Fabricante de Autopeças S.A., in order to further increase sales in the Mercosur countries such as Brazil. As a result, the company was renamed KYB Manufacturing do Brasil Fabricante de Autopecas S.A. (a consolidated subsidiary).
Jun. 2018 Established Hubei Henglong & KYB Automobile Electric Steering System Co. in order to expand sales of EPS systems. The company is a consolidated subsidiary accounted for under the equity method of accounting.
Mar. 2019 Dissolved KYB Europe Headquarters B.V., transferring its operations to the European controlling company, KYB Europe GmbH, in order to strengthen management and administrative functions in Europe.  
Mar. 2020 To strengthen management of operations in China, Wuxi KYB Top Absorber Co., Ltd. absorbed KYB (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Jul. 2021 Acquired and merged the operations of Kayaba System Machinery Co., Ltd.
Jan. 2022 Acquired and merged the operations of KYB Engineering and Services Co., Ltd. 
Apr. 2022 Moved from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange to the Prime Market due to the TSE's reorganization.
Apr. 2022 Although officially renamed to KYB Co., Ltd., the Company still uses the standard name Kayaba Co., Ltd.

Supplemental Information 1