DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee Ramps-Up Production for Stop/start Starters

--New line will result in 100 manufacturing positions over next two years--

SOUTHFIELD, MI--May 8, 2012:  DENSO is ramping-up for the production of stop/start starters at its DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee (DMTN) plant in Maryville, Tenn. The new starters, due to hit U.S. roads later this year, will help improve fuel efficiency by cutting the engine when the vehicle is at a stop or in other idle traffic situations. The new production line will result in approximately 100 positions over the next two years.

As U.S. automakers look to meet the upcoming fuel requirements, consumers will see more vehicles equipped with stop/start technology. While this technology is not-so-new to the global market as it's already in the Japanese and European markets, it's definitely a newer technology on internal combustion engines here in the U.S.

How it works:

Stop/start systems stop the engine when the vehicle is idling at a stop light or in other traffic situations. This helps reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Depending on automaker specifications, the technology can help improve fuel efficiency by approximately 3 to 5 percent. And, DENSO has future stop/start system technology that will bump that up to over 7 percent depending on the automaker's overall systems approach. When it comes to saving fuel, every percent counts.

DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electric, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers. Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 35 countries and regions (including Japan) and employs approximately 120,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, totaled US$38.4 billion. Last fiscal year, DENSO spent 9.5 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development. DENSO common stock is traded on the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges. For more information, go to Global Denso, or visit our media website at Denso Media Center.

In North America, DENSO employs more than 13,000 people with consolidated sales totaling US$6.2 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.