OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2011. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and Furukawa Automotive Systems Inc. (Head Office: Kora-cho, Inukami-gun, Shiga Prefecture; hereinafter collectively referred to as “the Furukawa Group”) entered into an agreement to acquire the automotive connector business of Mitsubishi Cable Industries, Ltd. The agreement will take effect after the requirements for official government approval are met.

With this acquisition, the Furukawa Group will step up its efforts to develop automotive connectors and will strive to further expand the automotive wire harness business, which has potential for global growth.
Purpose of the acquisition

Mitsubishi Cable Industries has produced automotive connectors in Japan, China, and Thailand and sold them chiefly to Japanese automobile and automotive parts manufacturers.

The Furukawa Group also develops and produces automotive connectors. Some of them are incorporated into its automotive wire harnesses and others are sold to outsiders. As a key component for wire harnesses, connectors are significant for the development of new wire harnesses and for considerable cost savings.

With this acquisition, the Furukawa Group will not only enrich its lineup of conventional automotive connectors, it will also boost its initiatives to develop new connector technologies to be introduced to aluminum wire harnesses and to high voltage cables for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles (HVs). In addition, it will focus its energy on the development of connectors that will lead to massive cost savings, bolstering its wire harness business and further expanding the market it serves.

The Furukawa Group will be responding to the wide-ranging needs of customers in the automobile market, which is expected to achieve steady growth driven by emerging economies, in an effort to operate its wire harness business globally.