embracing the automotive evolution Mitsuba

Mitsuba is a global supplier of electrical components for the automotive sector that is rigorously pursuing its focus on safety and relibility. To provide speedy and flexible responses to its European customers, the company has established a facility in Hungary. Managing Director Tomoyuki Matsumura talks to Romana Moares about the development of the Hungarian operations.

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Founded in 1946, Japanese Mitsuba started its operation with the manufacture of a bicycle power generation lamp, followed by the development of its starter motor, generator and horn for motorcycles. Gradually the business continued to expand and its focus shifted to the automotive sector. Today, Mitsuba’s network of 47 companies located in 17 countries, consisting of 20 domestic affiliated companies and 27 overseas affiliates employing over 4000 people, manufactures a varied product range including wiper assys, rear wiper motors, starter motors, power window motors, power slide doors and steering motors.

“The reasons for opening the Hungarian facility were simple. In those days, Japanese customers entering Europe struggled to produce and sell their products, while the production volumes did not increase. Mitsuba supplied its customers directly from Japan,” says

Mr Matsumura. “In order to be able to fully meet the regional needs, launching an assembly operation in Europe became a neccessity. We decided to focus on the low-labour cost eastern European region and researched Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As a result, we turned our eyes to the relatively proJapanese, agricultural country of Hungary.”

Hungarian presence

The company chose the city of Salgotarjan as the site for its new plant, an attractive location along the border with Slovakia with good availability of skilled resources. “The natural environment is very similar to the atmosphere of the Kiryu headquarters, and combined with the governmental incentive to attract foreign investment and other favourable aspects the decision came easily,” confirmed the managing director.

The Hungarian plant produces components for vehicle windscreen wiper and washer systems. Recently, it launched the production of the next generation of motors. Its customer base consists of prime automotive brands: VW group (23 per cent of output), Renault Nissan (20 per cent), Honda (15 per cent), BMW (14 per cent) and Magyar Suzuki (9 per cent).

“FR reversing wiper assys with controllers for German customers accounts for 24 per cent of total output. Coupled with conventional FR wiper assys for Japanese customers accounting for 31 per cent of the output, the proportion of FR wipers exceeds 50 per cent of total production volume. Around 36 per cent represent rear wiper motors, and the remaining roughly 10 per cent are the washer tanks. These are the main products of Mitsuba Hungary. Most of them are designed to match the models – the car bodies,” says Mr Matsumura. “In 2017, following the installation of an automated production line, the armature assy – the heart of the rear motor – was added to the portfolio.”

Attuned to market needs

Recently, the company started the development and production of the next generation of front wipers, reflecting demand for high efficiency and lighter weights to suit the demands of electric cars. “In addition

to the front wiper, we are developing further technologies at Japanese sites for the electric vehicle market. Product development is mainly done in Japan, but in order to respond promptly to customer requirements and development needs, we have a development office close to our German customers.”

The main reason for establishing Mitsuba Hungary was to serve European customers. The key market territories are the UK and Spain where the Renault Nissan plants are based; the UK and Turkey where the Honda factories are based; and Germany with the VW, Audi and BMW plants. The domestic market, finally, is where the Magyar Suzuki and Audi plants are located. The quality of the supply chain is indispensible in order to secure a speedy response and Mitsuba values its solid relationships. “We have been working with Automatic Press, Paver Relem and Clarion Hungary for more than 10 years and appreciate our relationships based on trust and reliability,” Mr Matsumura points out.

Supported by a subsidy from the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), the Hungarian Mitsuba doubled its production capacity in 2017. “We also installed a new production line for the next generation front wipers and an automated line for the armature assy,” said the Managing Director, adding that the company plans to install two more front wiper assy lines to further increase production capacity.

“In recent years, the company has won several new customers including Daimler, Porsche and Rolls Royce, which will certainly boost our growth,” Mr Matsumura confirmed. “In order to expand sales to new models and also to produce and sell value added parts and products, we plan to further focus on in-house production and localisation.” This will be in line with the group’s strategy to develop new products reflecting automotive advances and to further strengthen its global presence. n