Denso

 is a global automotive components manufacturer headquartered in the city of Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
After becoming independent from Toyota Motor, the company was founded as in 1949. About 25% of the company is owned by Toyota. Despite being a part of the Toyota Group of companies, as of the year ending March 2016, sales to the Toyota Group accounted for less than 50% of total revenue (44% of revenue originated from other car manufacturers in Japan, Germany, the U.S. and China). In 2016, Denso was the fourth largest auto parts supplier in the world.
As of 2016, Denso Corporation consisted of 189 subsidiaries (63 in Japan, 34 in the Americas, 34 in Europe, and 58 in Asia and Oceania) with a total of 151,775 employees. The company is further escalating its global production structure by establishing manufacturing complexes in India, Mexico, and Indonesia in order to accommodate further global demand for their products. In 2013, Denso was listed at #242 on the Fortune Global 500 list with a total revenue of $43.1 billion.
Name.
The name is a blend word of the Japanese terms for and .
Operations.
The company develops and manufactures various auto parts, including gasoline and diesel engine components, hybrid vehicle components, climate control systems, instrument clusters, airbag systems, pre-crash radar systems, and spark plugs. Denso also develops and manufactures non-automotive components, such as household heating equipment and industrial robots. A Denso industrial robot gained wide public attention in Japan when it conducted a game of shogi against professional players.
In June 2020, Denso announced the opening of its "Electrification Innovation Center" at its plant in Anjō. The facility will support the company’s development of products and technologies for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Sales.
In 2014, Denso's global sales were distributed as follows:
Denso Wave.
Denso Wave is a subsidiary that produces automatic identification products (barcode readers and related products), industrial robots, and programmable logic controllers. They are noted for creating the two-dimensional QR code, are a member of the Japan Robot Association, and support the ORiN standard.
Denso International America.
Denso International America is the American subsidiary of Denso.
In 1970, Denso Corporation decided to expand overseas from Kariya, Japan to North America. Denso Sales California, Inc. was founded in Hawthorne, California in March 1971. The company was staffed with only 12 associates, four of them being Americans. The objective of Denso Sales California was to promote their air conditioner systems as options in Japanese-made vehicles.
In May 1975, Denso Corporation opened a sales division, Denso Sales, in Southfield, Michigan.
In September 1975, Denso International America opened a service center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This was opened due to an agricultural parts contract with John Deere that included starter motors and meters.
Denso International America employs over 17,000 people at 38 locations between North, Central, and South America. At year end, on March 31, 2008, combined sales totaled $8.3 billion for all American locations.
Motorsports.
As Denso is a part of the Toyota Group, it has assisted Toyota in participating and developing cars for motorsports. Denso manufactures electronics and other parts for Toyota Racing Development and Toyota Gazoo Racing. The Toyota TS030 Hybrid, using a Denso kinetic energy recovery system, finished second in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Denso products are also used in other Japanese motorsports, including Super Formula and Super GT.
Controversies.
Price fixing.
On January 30, 2012, the US Justice Department announced after two years of investigation that it had discovered part of a massive price fixing scheme in which Denso and Yazaki played a significant role. The conspiracy, which fixed prices and allocated components to such car manufacturers as Toyota and Honda, extended from Michigan to Japan, where it was also under investigation. Denso agreed to pay a fine of $78 million.
Fuel pump lawsuits.
In August 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Quebec over alleged defective fuel pumps in a number of Acura, Honda, Lexus, Subaru, and Toyota vehicle models. A separate fuel pump lawsuit was filed for the remaining areas of Canada.