BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Toyota Tsusho’s creation of a value chain in theautomobile parts business in China involved bothdomestic and overseas suppliers. And they company’sbusiness activities in China have, since the 2010s, haveplayed a major part in the execution of TMC’s Chinastrategy.Support for the Development of Various AutomobileParts BusinessesToyota Tsusho’s goal has been to promote the growthand expansion of its parts business through allianceswith Toyota Group companies and suppliers. ThroughNantong Wako Textile Co., Ltd. (established in 2000),a joint venture with Wako Textile Industry and DaiwaSenko Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho was involved in theestablishment of a crimping process for the raw yarnused for automobile seats. Through Toyoda MachineryAutoparts (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (established in 2003), ajoint venture with Toyoda Machine Works, Ltd. (currentlyJTEKT Corp.), Toyota Tsusho helped develop a powersteering pump. Through Zeon Polymix (Guangzhou)Co., Ltd. (established in 2004), a joint venture with theZeon Group (Japan), Toyota Tsusho got involved in themanufacturing and sales of carbon masterbatch (CMB), araw material used to make rubber parts for automobiles.Through Toyoda Gosei (Foshan) Rubber Parts Co., Ltd.(established in 2004), a joint venture with Toyoda GoseiCo., Ltd., and Tai-yue Rubber Industrial Co., Ltd., ToyotaTsusho became instrumental in the development ofvarious automobile parts such as weather strip and otherbody ceiling parts and hose parts.In June 2004, Toyota Tsusho joined forces withHasetora Spinning Co., Ltd., to establish ShanghaiFenghu Tufted Carpet Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of thetufted carpet used for automobile carpeting, and throughthis company started producing tufted carpet for the MarkX sedan and shipping it to Tianjin FAW Toyota MotorCo., Ltd. This was followed by tufted carpet productionfor Toyota Crown and Majesta vehicles.In November 2006, Tianjin Toyotsu Otsuka Textile Co.,Ltd., a manufacturer of nonwoven fabric for automobilefloor carpets, was established as a joint venture withOtsuka Corp., a manufacturer of automotive interiormaterials.The impact on China of the global financial crisisprecipitated by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in2008 was minor, and so the automotive businesses therecontinued to expand. In May 2011, Toyota Tsusho’sjoint venture with Toyobo Co., Ltd., resulted in theestablishment of Toyobo Automotive Textiles (Changshu)Co., Ltd., which engaged in the manufacture and salesof airbag fabrics in Jiangsu Province, China. Productionstarted in April 2012.Promotion of Equipment and MoldingToyota Tsusho also made efforts in China to strengthenother related businesses indispensable for manufacturingautomobile parts. In September 2003, Toyota Tsushoestablished Fulai Precision (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., in Tianjin,as a joint venture with Plasess Co., Ltd., Inaguma PressIndustry Co., Ltd., and Nippon Stud Welding Co., Ltd.The new company produced precision resin and specialmolded parts. This enabled the establishment of anintegrated structure for all processes from manufacturingmolds, precision resin molding, and manufacturingprecision metal pressed parts for special molding andparts for mold part insert fabrication to secondaryprocessing. In December of the same year, ToyotaTsusho and Toyotsu Engineering jointly establishedTianjin Toyotsu Automotive Equipment ManufacturingCo., Ltd. This new company was tasked with designing,manufacturing, and maintaining facilities and equipmentfor the automotive industry in China and launched afacility and equipment engineering business for VIOS,Corolla, Crown, and Mark II vehicles.In April 2011, a 100% capital injection by ToyotaTsusho (China) established Toyota Tsusho (Taicang)Special Steel Processing Co., Ltd., in Taicang, JiangsuProvince, near Shanghai. The new company stores, cuts,inspects, and transports specialty steel products.Harbin Service CenterTianjin Toyotsu Resource Management Co., Ltd.History153