International Dealer News IDN 153 February/March 2020 | Page 15

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Honda-Hitachi to acquire
Showa, Keihin and Nissin
Having reduced its once controlling
interest to a 33.5% stake some years
ago, Honda has announced that it is to
buy up all outstanding shares in Showa
and two other well-known Japanese
motorcycle component industry majors
in which it also has significant stakes -
Keihin and Nissin - in a massive deal
with automotive supply giant Hitachi
Automotive Systems (HAS) to create a
new combined business that will
swallow up all three of the component
makers.
The new business will be jointly owned
by Hitachi, who will own 66.6% of the
shares in the combined business, with
Honda owning the remaining one third.
Honda currently owns 33.5% of Showa,
having once held a controlling interest,
34.86% of Nissin and 41.35% of
Keihin. It is reported that the combined
business will have around 1.8 trillion yen
in sales ($16.5 billion).
The deal will bring together, into one
integrated business, three areas of
component manufacturing -
suspensions, fuel management and
brakes - that are increasingly
interdependent; a trend that can only
increase in the future as automotive and
motorcycle systems themselves become
ever more integrated and economies of
scale become ever more important.
The merged company will focus on
developing components for EV and self-
driving systems, along with new
on-demand mobility services,
combining their scale in a bid to come
up with products more quickly and
efficiently.
Hitachi said that the increasing
complexity of vehicle technologies
required bigger R&D capabilities and a
bigger global footprint and access to a
bigger pool of talent. "The merged
company will be a mega supplier and
will deliver competitive advanced
technologies and solutions," Hitachi
Executive Vice President Keiji Kojima
told reporters. "We will leverage our
strengths and our scale to expand
globally."
The new business will be known as
Hitachi Automotive Systems in what is
being termed an "absorption-type
merger," with the Showa, Keihin and
Nissin names likely to disappear
altogether in time. Showa's OEM client
roster currently includes Harley-
Davidson, Kawasaki and Suzuki, with
Nissin supplying those and Yamaha. It's
not known how this merger will affect
current OEM customers of the trio.
Honda has said that "this merger will
enable combination of the respective
advanced technologies of Keihin's
powertrain business, Showa's
suspension and steering business, and
Nissin's brake system business with the
strength of HAS."
Keihin needs little introduction as a once dominant and still legendary name in
carburetors, and though best known in
'metric' markets, Nissin is believed to
have equipped more motorcycles with
brake calipers than any other
manufacturer.
Showa has a storied history in the
motorcycle industry, not least with its
historic connections to Harley-
Davidson. These days Showa is known
as a purveyor of suspension products to
Harley, but its links with Milwaukee go
back to the 1950s, and using 'Honda'
front ends (i.e. Showa front ends) was a
significant pawn in Harley's 1985 near
death experience. Founded in 1938 as a
manufacturer of aircraft suspensions for
the pre-war Japanese military, in 1950
Showa acquired Rikuo Motorcycle,
which made licenced versions of Harley-
Davidsons in the 1930s and 1940s. The
Rikuo brand lasted until 1962.
When Harley was in deep trouble in
1985, Showa front ends became a
bargaining chip in Vaughn Beals' and
the United States Trade Representative's
financial and tariff dealings with Honda
(and Yamaha).
CST - FIM accredited Enduro tyres resistance, especially on paved
road sections, and maximum
traction levels and excellent
stability in corners, giving great
confidence even on the most
difficult routes".
Ideal for competitions, these
tyres are approved for both road
and FIM competition use and
distributed exclusively in Italy by
B.I.S. S.r.l.
Headquartered in Taiwan, CST
spends 3% of annual turnover
on R&D and says it was one of
the first companies in the world
to adopt factory standards such
as ISO 9001 (EU), ISO 14001
(Japan), TS 16949 (Taiwan), CCC
(China) and DOT (USA).
www.csttires.eu
www.bissrl.it
EICMA saw CST launching new
FIM approved Enduro tyres "for
great off-road performance". A
brand-new multipurpose
compound with advanced
polymer structure is said to be
the result of many years of two
and four-wheel/ATV off-road
experience with a tread and
groove pattern built by the CST
R&D Centre to help disperse the
mud and offer "excellent
traction, stability and grip in all
weather conditions and on any
terrain.
"The state-of-the-art tread also
offers great protection against
abrasions and improves progress
while providing low rolling
www.idnmag.com
INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020
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