Aisin Corporation (株式会社アイシン, Kabushiki gaisha Aishin) is a Japanese corporation that develops and produces components and systems for the automotive industry. Aisin is a Fortune Global 500 company, ranked 359 on the 2020 rankings.[5] Aisin is a member of the Toyota Group of companies.
Aisin was founded in 1965[2] and supplies engine, drivetrain, body and chassis, aftermarket, and other automotive parts for the Toyota Motor Corporation and other various major OEMs.
In addition to automotive products, Aisin also offers life and amenity products (such as sewing machines[6] and, from 1966 to 2020, mattresses[7][8]), cogeneration and heat exchange systems,[9] and welfare products,[10] among others.[11]
History
The company traces its origins to 1943, when Tokai Aviation Industries (東海航空工業, Tōkai Kōkū Kōgyō) was founded as a joint venture between the Toyota Motor Corporation and Kawasaki Aircraft Industries to produce aircraft engines for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The company was quickly renamed Tokai Airplane Industries (東海飛行機工業, Tōkai Hikōki Kōgyō) after it was discovered that there was a pre-existing company with the same name.[12]
After the war, Tokai renamed itself Aichi Industries (愛知工業, Aichi Kōgyō), and shifted production from aircraft parts to sewing machines and automobile parts. In 1965, Aichi Kogyo merged with auto parts manufacturer Shinkawa Kogyo 新川産業 to form Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (アイシン精機株式会社, Aishin Seiki Kabushiki gaisha).[2]
In October 2019, Aisin Seiki announced that it would merge with subsidiary Aisin AW, consolidating management and renaming the company.[13] Effective April 1, 2021, the combined company was officially renamed Aisin Corporation.[14]