Denso Corporation announced it will build an additional plant, at an existing facility in Iwate Prefecture, to expand production to include instrument clusters and, it said, “enhance the competitiveness of the group’s production system in Japan”.

The supplier will spend US$88m (JPY10bn) on the new plant and the number of employees will increase to around 1,000 by 2020. Construction will start in October 2017 and will be completed a year later. Production will begin in May 2019 and increase in stages.

Denso Iwate currently manufactures semiconductor wafers, and will start production of semiconductor sensors in June 2017. It will expand its production range from just semiconductor wafers to complete electronics products, improving its capability to meet customer needs.

Based in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, Denso is a global supplier of advanced automotive technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, 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 38 countries and regions and employs nearly 140,000 people.