6. Expansion into São Paulo

[3] Expanding the product lineup (starters/meters)

Reinforcing local design capabilities by establishing the Technical Center also advanced expansion of DENSO’s product lineup.
Amid plans by Toyota Motor and Honda Motor to expand business, the majority of DENSO’s sales in South America remained thermal products, such as car A/Cs and radiators. In order to better contribute to its customers and achieve growth, however, DENSO saw the increasing importance of strengthening the competitiveness of its existing products and of expanding its product lineup, all while taking advantage of its management resources that had been reinforced in Santa Bárbara.
In South America, DMBR had already rolled out an electrical machinery business for alternators and wipers, and DNAZ had already developed a business for motorcycles magnetos and some electronics products. In 2012, however, as part of a new product lineup DNBR began producing starters, for which South America was the only region where these had not been produced locally. Having positioned starters as a product for which steady growth was expected, DNBR aggressively engaged in sales expansion activities, and aimed to reinforce the South American electrical machinery business foundation by supplying starters for Toyota EFC and Fiat.
As mentioned above, DNAZ also began producing automobile engine ECUs that same year, providing momentum to local production of electronics products in South America. In addition, during 2014 DENSO newly established a meter design and manufacturing function, at which point DNBR began meter production in Brazil in order to provide optimum products to automobile manufacturers in the South American region.