Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") announces it has invested in Aster Co., Ltd. (President: Takenobu Hongo; Head office: Yokote-shi, Akita; "Aster")--which possesses the innovative motor coil, AST coil^*1 technology, through receipt of allocated third party shares.

Currently, the use of motors is spreading due to the progress of electrification, and making motors operate efficiently through efficient use of energy is becoming an issue. To address this issue, Aster developed the AST coil technology which offers freedom in shape forming unseen in traditional winded coils. The space factor^*2 within motors has been significantly improved due to the development of AST coil technology. This has allowed customers to realize motor designs of high efficiency that offers higher output in smaller form factors using lower resistance that were difficult to achieve from the extrapolation of traditional technologies.

Toyota Tsusho is working on response to the acceleration of vehicle electrification as a part of its Next-generation Mobility Strategy, a priority area for the company. Through this investment in Aster, Toyota Tsusho aims to contribute toward a society with low environmental impact by supporting the full-scale commercialization of AST coils. In addition, by achieving installation in next-generation automotive motors, Toyota Tsusho is striving toward stable supply of high-performance motors which are major components of electrification including mobility, and is also expanding application into motors for industrial use.

Aster is working to build its mass production system for AST coils, and has opened a new plant in Yokote-shi, Akita in June 2019 as part of this effort.

This investment is a project under Toyota Tsusho’s internal NEXT Technology Fund.

*1 AST coil = Aster coil
*2 Ratio of the coil’s cross-sectional area made up by the conductor


* Source: Aster’s web site

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