Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and JTEKT Corporation (JTEKT) announce today that they have agreed to start consideration toward the transfer of Toyota-owned shares of Yutaka Seimitsu Kogyo, Ltd. (Yutaka Seimitsu) to JTEKT by January 2020

Move aimed at increasing added value of Toyota Group’s driveline operations

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and JTEKT Corporation (JTEKT) announce today that they have agreed to start consideration toward the transfer of Toyota-owned shares of Yutaka Seimitsu Kogyo, Ltd. (Yutaka Seimitsu) to JTEKT by January 2020. The aim of transferring such shares is to further strengthen the competitiveness of Toyota and JTEKT’s main driveline operations. Once the transfer is complete, all Yutaka Seimitsu operations, such as those related to drive components (namely components that relay motive power from the engine through the transmission to the wheels), gear manufacturing, and gear processing machinery, will be transferred from Toyota to JTEKT.

In the Toyota Group’s current driveline operations, Toyota, JTEKT, and Yutaka Seimitsu share responsibilities for development and production of each driveline component, with Toyota and Yutaka Seimitsu responsible for differential gears and JTEKT responsible for torque control devices (electronically controlled 4WD couplings).

The growing shift toward vehicle electrification is expected to greatly change the market landscape. Increasing the added value in the Toyota Group’s driveline operations by enhancing the lineup of driveline products in terms of types and sizes, as well as in terms of making products more compact and lighter through the modulization of multiple components, is expected to increase the group’s ability to plan and propose driveline systems, leading to expanded sales. This is the ultimate goal of the agreement announced today.

To survive this once-in-a-century transformational period in the automotive industry as represented by CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, electric), the Toyota Group intends to accelerate actions for heightening its competitiveness by creating new added value, which it plans to do by bringing together the technologies and products of each member of the group and by aligning each member's strengths.