DENSO to Form Joint Venture with Toyota Tsusho in Thailand to Strengthen Its Automotive Software

KARIYA, JAPAN, Apr, 15 2016 - DENSO Corporation and Toyota Tsusho Corporation have agreed to form a joint venture in Bangkok, Thailand. The new company, Toyota Tsusho DENSO Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd., plans to start developing software in July 2016 to help improve the efficiency of engine electronic control unit (engine ECU) development.

Recently, it has been challenging to improve efficiency when developing software used in engine ECUs because, as the control of powertrains becomes increasingly complex, the development scale expands accordingly. The joint venture will use models in all phases of software development including control-program development, design, and verification.

Moreover, to be capable of supporting a wide variety of ECUs to be developed, the new company will standardize software and improve development efficiency and speed.

The new company will be capitalized at 20 million baht (Approx. US$0.6 million).

Profile of the joint venture

1. Name:           Toyota Tsusho DENSO Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
2. Location:       Bangkok, Thailand
3. President:      Hideya Ito while also serving as President and CEO of Toyota 
                   Tsusho Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
4. Establishment:  July 2016 (planned)
5. Capital:        20 million baht (Approx. US$0.6 million)
6. Ownership:      51percent owned by DENSO INTERNATIONAL ASIA PTE., LTD. and 49 
                   percent owned by Toyota Tsusho Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
7. Employees:      Approx. 30 (FY2016)
8. Business desc.: Designing and developing software used in automotive engine ECUs

Reference

Profile of Toyota Tsusho DENSO Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

1. Location:       Bangkok, Thailand
2. President:      Hideya Ito
3. Establishment:  2005
4. Capital:        32 million baht (Approx. US$0.9 million)
5. Employees:      200
6. Business desc.: Developing embedded automotive and related system 
                   software and selling in-vehicle electronic devices.

* The foreign exchange rate used in this news release is US$0.03 to the
baht.

About Denso

DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers. Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 38 countries and regions and employs nearly 140,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, totaled US$39.8 billion. Last fiscal year, DENSO spent 9 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development. DENSO common stock is traded on the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges. For more information, go to www.globaldenso.com, or visit our media website at www.densomediacenter.com.