Hitachi, Honda Seen Integrating Automotive Suppliers

Tokyo, Oct. 30 (Jiji Press)--Hitachi Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. are considering integrating a total of four automotive parts suppliers in their respective groups to create Japan's third largest such maker, informed sources said Wednesday. The move comes as competition is intensifying to develop core parts of electric vehicles, autonomous driving systems and other new technologies. The four suppliers are Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. and three Honda affiliates--Keihin Corp. , Showa Corp. and Nissin Kogyo Co. Their combined sales came to nearly 1.8 trillion yen in the year through March 2019, following sales at Denso Corp. and Aisin Seiki Co., both affiliated to Toyota Motor Corp. Hitachi plans to take a stake of nearly 70 pct in a new company to be created through the merger. Honda is also expected to take a certain stake. END