Bearing manufacturer Koyo Seiko Co. (Koyo; Japan) is forming a joint venture,
FAVESS Co., Ltd.,
with Toyoda Machine Works (TMW; Japan), Denso Corporation (Denso; Japan), and
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota; Japan).
FAVESS will use the market strength of these four key Japanese auto
industry vendors to develop and sell electric power steering
and electric-hydraulic power steering ("EPS") systems and related products.
Target customers are auto and truck manufacturers worldwide; the company says
it intends to use its market position to become, "the world's leading
supplier of EPS and related products."
Scheduled to be formally established on November 1, 2002, FAVSS' initial
capitalization
will be ¥ 480 million (USD $3.8 million). The head office will be located
in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture.
Koyo will appoint the president of FAVESS and contribute 45% of the initial
capital. TMW will contribute 35%, Denso 10%, and Toyota 10%.
By February 2003, the company will begin sales and marketing activities with
approximately 300 employees on board.
First year sales are projected to be ¥ 30 billion ($240.2 million)
and ¥ 50 billion ($400.3 million) by 2005.
This venture is the latest in a series of recently-announced
EPS businesses involving bearing companies, where Koyo has been the most active:
• March 2001: Koyo and Mitsubishi to build EPS factory near Prague
• May 2001: Koyo buys 24% share of Fuji Kiko to manufacture EPS units
• November 2001: Koyo to manufacture EPS units in the U.S.
But Koyo is not alone. Other manufacturers of electronic power
steering systems include NSK, Delphi, Showa, Visteon, and
ZF Freidrichshafen AG.
According to FAVESS, its key business functions will be:
- Efficiently expand the EPS lineup, etc. in order to meet the demand created
by the rapidly increasing number of vehicles adopting EPS and the trend toward
use in larger vehicles.
- Strengthen development of electronically controlled systems, a key
technology of EPS.
- Develop EPS with a high quality, high performance and cost-competitiveness
that will be acknowledged by worldwide customers.
- Develop products smoothly and accurately that meet the needs of automakers'
expanding global operations.
- Carry out advanced development of next-generation intelligent steering
systems and integrated vehicle control systems.
- Establish a sales structure by which the company can accurately and
quickly respond to customer needs.
Background on Electric Power Steering systems
In mid-2001, eBearing published an article introducing and outlining the
various types of electric power steering systems.
• Introduction to electric power steering
printer-friendly version
