Toyota Boshoku Corporation and Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. have recently begun manufacturing automobile seat frames and seat covers in the European region.
The company that has begun this manufacturing is TBAI Poland, which was established in Poland in 2009 to produce interior components for automobiles and is jointly owned and operated by Toyota Boshoku and Aisin Seiki. TBAI was established as a manufacturing base to assume the vital role of constructing an optimal production and distribution system for seat frames in the European region and is the first seat frame plant in the European Union for both companies.
The seat frames that have begun to be produced at this new plant are the next-generation "TB-NF110 Series" seat frames that were jointly developed with Toyota Motor Corporation and others to contribute to improved fuel efficiency performance in automobiles. The seat frames are characterized by the structure designed in the pursuit of excellent riding comfort performance with reduced weight and resources, which are realized by the use of high-tensile steel in the 980 MPa-class for a portion of the seat frame material. Production of these seat frames began in Japan in 2009 before being expanded into the North American region in 2010 and now production has also begun in the European region.
For the present TBAI supplies seats to Toyota Boshoku Somain, which is the seat assembly base for the Toyota Boshoku Group in France, but we plan to have TBAI supply other seat assembly bases in the future.
Toyota Boshoku and Aisin Seiki have been cooperating in the joint development and manufacturing of seat frame parts. At present this work is being carried out at 3 manufacturing bases in 2 different countries: in Poland and also in the cities of Guangzhou and Tianjin in China. We are also aiming to begin manufacturing seat frames in Brazil in the second half of 2012. Both Toyota Boshoku and Aisin Seiki will continue to utilize their particular areas of expertise to supply high quality and low cost seat frames in every region of the world.
