Hitachi Cable, Ltd. hereby announces that we will boost the production capacity of the torque sensors for electric power steering (EPS) at our manufacturing affiliate in Thailand, AHCL (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, "AHCL"), in order to strengthen our global supply system for the automotive components business. We plan to start operation at this facility in the spring of 2013.

In recent years, automotive manufacturers have accelerated the introduction of globally strategic vehicles, and are promoting the production of products in optimal regions on a global basis. In contrast to the past focus on export, Japanese automotive makers are actively strengthening their overseas production sites.
Against this background, Hitachi Cable is proceeding to enhance the global supply system for automotive components to cope with demand for automotive components, which is expanding in regions all over the world. We are now boosting the production capacity of the torque sensors for EPS at our manufacturing affiliate in Thailand, AHCL, with the aim of further strengthening the global supply system.

AHCL in Thailand, whose production capacity we plan to boost now, is an automotive components manufacturing company established in 2003. It manufactures torque sensors for EPS, as well as antilock brake system (ABS) sensors, brake hoses, etc. By expanding its manufacturing facilities, we will approximately double the production capacity of torque sensors for EPS (from the FY2011 level) by FY2014. Torque sensors are a device which detects the power applied to the shaft in the rotation direction and converts it to electric signal. Because EPS with a torque sensor installed results in less energy loss and better space saving compared to hydraulic power steering, the installation of torque sensors is being promoted mainly in Japan and Europe. In addition, in markets in North America, China, and elsewhere, the ratio of mounted torque sensors is also increasing in order to respond to fuel consumption restrictions and other factors, and therefore further expansion of demand can be expected.

In the future, Hitachi Cable Group will continue to expand overseas businesses by building manufacturing and sales structures in optimal regions based on global marketing viewpoint.

Reference: Photo of torque sensor

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Overview of AHCL (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Location	: Chonburi Province, Thailand
Representative	: Kazuya Murakami, President
Number of employees	: 402 (as of the end of June 2012)
Capital	: 51,870 Thai baht (as of the end of March 2012)
Major production items	: Various sensors and brake hoses for automobiles
Controlling share	: 100% held by Hitachi Cable