Jatco, the Japanese manufacturer of automatic and continuously variable (CVT) transmissions for medium-sized and large vehicles, plans almost to triple production at its plant in Aguascalientes, central Mexico, to 800,000 units per year, investing US$200 million on new buildings and equipment and adding 2,000 jobs in the process, according to autonewsmexico.com.
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Jatco president Shigeo Ishida said the company, 80% of which is owned by Nissan Motor, would gradually increase its current annual Aguascalientes output for medium sized vehicles, which began last November, from 300,000 to 400,000 units and would instal a second assembly line to produce an additional 300,000 new generation CVT units, starting in October, 2007.
Jatco, whose main client in Mexico is Nissan Mexicana, which also has a vehicle assembly plant in the same city, also planned to transfer production of new generation CVTs for large vehicles in the Nafta region from Japan to Aguascalientes by May 2008, Ishida added.
An additional 2,000 jobs (three times the current number) would be created at the plant, which is Jatco’s only production site outside Japan.
According to the executive, the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) region (comprising the US, Canada and Mexico) is the world’s largest market for vehicles, automatic transmissions (ATs) and CVTs.
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By GlobalDataJatco was selling one million ATs or CVTs in the Nafta region per year, he said recently.
“We anticipate a steady growth in the demand for CVTs, which will make significant contributions to improved fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions and counter global warming,” said Ishida. “Jatco Mexico is an important manufacturing base that will assure Jatco’s growth and globalisation.”
The Jatco complex in Mexico covers 200,000 square metres, 48,000 square metres of which have been built upon. Jatco plans to increase the constructed area to 79,000 square metres under its expansion plan.
Currently it builds CVTs for medium-sized vehicles only at the complex.
Jatco Mexico was founded in April, 2003. Construction of the complex started the following January and was finished by October, 2004.
Headquartered in the Japanese city of Fuji, Jatco is Nissan Motor Company’s former AT/CVT division, which was sold and incorporated into a company called TransTechnology in June 1999.
In October 1999, TransTechnology and Jatco Corporation merged under the name Jatco TransTechnology. Its corporate name was changed to Jatco in April, 2002.
It has affiliate companies in the US, Korea, Mexico and France but Mexico is the only country outside Japan where Jatco manufactures.
Apart from Nissan, its customers include Hyundai, Jaguar, Ford, Mitsubishi, Renault, Daewoo and DaimlerChrysler, according to autonewsmexico.com.
Nissan’s North American unit said recently it would greatly increase the number of CVTs used in cars sold in its markets – it sources some volume models such as the just-redesigned Sentra and planned Versa from Nissan Mexico.
Nissan Europe also offers such transmissions in some models it sells here.
