News Releases

05/05/2014

Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas Announces to Begin Construction of its New Automotive Equipment System Plant in Mexico State

Farmington Hills, Michigan, May 5, 2014 --- Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc., the regional headquarters for the Americas within Hitachi Automotive Systems’ global operations – today announced that Hitachi Automotive Systems Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (President: Takumi Shimaoka) has begun the construction of a new plant in Lerma City, Mexico to manufacture automotive systems.

Mexico continues to develop as a base for automotive manufacturing throughout the Americas, including Latin America. The numbers of foreign car maker factories are increasing. As a result, there are greater demands of localization to respond quickly to the community needs and to secure production capacity in Mexico for automotive equipment system manufacturers. Furthermore, due to NAFTA (Mexico, United States and Canada’s North American Free Trade Agreement) and the Economic Complementation Agreement (ACE) No 55 regarding the automotive sector between Mexico and the member countries of the MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), there are tariff-free exports of automotive parts. This has led to enhanced introduction of automotive equipment system manufacturers into Mexico.

This new plant, 3^rd for the Company and 5^th for Hitachi Automotive Systems Group within Mexico, is being established to respond appropriately to support the production of vehicles in Mexico and to further strengthen the supply for the car makers throughout the Americas using the preferential trade agreement.

As a result of the establishment of the new plant, the Company will be securing approximately 180,000 square meters of land in Lerma City, Mexico. The Company will begin production of pistons for automotive parts as well as aluminum diecasts in May 2015. Further expansion of production is to be expected in the future.

Hitachi Automotive Systems will continue to work on establishing further expansion of the automotive equipment systems business in Mexico.

Name	Hitachi Automotive Systems Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Plant 3 (As of April 2014, company name change from Unisia Mexicana S.A. de C.V.)
Location	Lerma City, State of Mexico
Products	Piston for automotive parts, aluminum diecast (Planning for steady expansion of manufacturing)
Site Area	Approximately 180,000 m²
Production	May of 2015

Name	Hitachi Automotive Systems Mexico, S.A. de C.V.	Hitachi Automotive Systems Queretaro, S.A. de C.V.	Electronica Clarion S.A. de C.V.
Location	Lerma City, State of Mexico	Queretaro City, State of Queretaro	Corporate Office: Mexico City Plant: San Juan Del Rio, State of Queretaro
Representative	Takumi Shimaoka	Shigetoshi Nashimoto	Joaquin Loose
Date of Foundation	March of 1979	July of 2012	November of 1983
Main Products	Plant 1: Pump, balancer, etc. Plant 2: Ignition Coil, etc. Plant 3: Piston, aluminum diecast	Suspension, brakes, etc.	Car audio equipment, Engine control unit, etc.
Number of employees (as of March 2014)	Approximately 1,320	Approximately 200	Approximately 1,680

Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc., a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., manufactures, remanufactures and markets a wide range of automotive systems including engine management systems, electric power train systems, drive control systems and car information systems for all major automotive original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket customers worldwide, providing leadership within Hitachi Automotive Systems’ global operations as the regional headquarters in the Americas. The company is headquartered in Farmington Hills, MI.

For more information, please visit www.hitachi-automotive.us.

Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company is engaged in the development, manufacture, sales and services of automotive components, transportation related components, industrial machines and systems, and offers a wide range of automotive systems including engine management systems, electric power train systems, drive control systems and car information systems. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi-automotive.co.jp/en/.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2012 (ended March 31, 2013) totaled 9,041 billion yen ($96.1 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional material & components, automotive systems and others.

For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.