Aisin

Aisin Corporation (株式会社アイシン, Kabushiki gaisha Aishin) is a Japanese corporation that develops and produces components and systems for the automotive industry. Aisin is a Fortune Global 500 company, ranked 359 on the 2020^[update] rankings. Aisin is a member of the Toyota Group of companies.

Aisin was founded in 1965 and supplies engine, drivetrain, body and chassis, aftermarket, and other automotive parts for the Toyota Motor Corporation and other major OEMs.

In addition to automotive products, Aisin also offers life and amenity products (such as sewing machines and, from 1966 to 2020, mattresses), cogeneration and heat exchange systems, and welfare products, among others.

The company traces its origins to 1943, when Tokai Aviation Industries (東海航空工業, Tōkai Kōkū Kōgyō) was founded as a joint venture between the Toyota Motor Corporation and Kawasaki Aircraft Industries to produce aircraft engines for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The company was quickly renamed Tokai Airplane Industries (東海飛行機工業, Tōkai Hikōki Kōgyō) after it was discovered that there was a pre-existing company with the same name.

After the war, Tokai renamed itself Aichi Industries (愛知工業, Aichi Kōgyō), and shifted production from aircraft parts to sewing machines and automobile parts. In 1965, Aichi Kogyo merged with auto parts manufacturer Shinkawa Kogyo 新川産業 to form Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (アイシン精機株式会社, Aishin Seiki Kabushiki gaisha).

In October 2019, Aisin Seiki announced that it would merge with subsidiary Aisin AW, consolidating management and renaming the company. Effective April 1, 2021, the combined company was officially renamed Aisin Corporation.

Aisin AW was Aisin Seiki's subsidiary building automatic transmissions. It was originally established in 1969 as Aisin-Warner, a joint venture with BorgWarner. In 1981, BorgWarner reduced its equity in Aisin-Warner to 10%, and by 1987 had divested themselves of the remainder. Aisin-Warner was renamed Aisin AW in 1988, and merged with parent company Aisin Seiki in 2021.

Aisin AW developed the Toyota Prius transmission and the world's first speaking navigation system. Additionally, its two-axis electric continuously variable transmission has been adapted to Prius models (except the Prius C) from 2016 onward, the 1st-generation (2005–2007) and 2nd-generation (2008–2012) Ford Escape Hybrid, and the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid from 2017 onward. The two-axis design eliminates the second planetary gearset used in the 2010–2015 Prius and Prius c, which reduces the width and weight of the eCVT and improves its overall efficiency.