Denso and Toyota to Launch New Semiconductor Venture

Denso has announced that it will be joining Toyota Motor Corporation to set up a new company. The new joint venture company will specialize in the production of semiconductors for next-generation technologies. The new company will start functioning from April 2020 and will make semiconductors that will be used in next-generation vehicles like autonomous and electric vehicles.

The staff of the new company which has been named Mirise Technologies will deal with research and advanced development of in-vehicle semiconductors. It is believed that such semi-conductors will have a key role to play in the evolution of technology that will be needed for electric vehicles and automated driving vehicles, according to a statement issued by the two companies.

The new company will have a workforce of about 500 employees and will be headquartered in central Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. It will collaborate on an extensive basis with universities, research institutes and startups for the purpose of recruiting semiconductor engineers.

The two companies will initially invest an amount of 50 million yen (USD 460,000) in Mirise Technologies. Denso will have a 51 percent stake in the joint venture with Toyota having the balance 49 percent. It will be helmed by Yoshifumi Kato, who is currently a senior executive officer at Denso.

Another Japanese automotive manufacturer which has made a similar move is Honda Motor Co. Back in October, Hitachi Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. said that they would merge four auto parts suppliers under a new firm to cater to the needs of the emerging market for autonomous and electric cars.

Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also said that they agreed to set up a new company to jointly develop advanced technologies for next-generation vehicles with a focus on studying artificial intelligence.