DENSO DISTINCTIONS

Who is DENSO?
DENSO, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global supplier of advanced automotive technology, systems and components, serving all major automakers.

Global Network
DENSO employs 106,000 associates in 32 countries and regions, including Japan.

North American Associates/Locations
DENSO employs 16,000 people at 32 companies, joint ventures and affiliates in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Of these companies, 25 are manufacturing facilities.

Quality First
Quality has been central to the development and production of automobile components at DENSO since the company’s inception in 1949. As early as 1961, DENSO Corporation, global headquarters in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, was awarded Japan’s famous Deming Quality Prize.

In 2002, J.D. Power and Associates recognized DENSO with its prestigious Chairman’s Award for dedication to providing consistent high quality systems and components to automotive manufacturers. DENSO is the first automotive component supplier to receive this award.

DENSO has been awarded three times General Motors’s Supplier Corporation of the Year (2005, 2000 and 1996), an annual award given to only one supplier from GM’s supplier base of 30,000. In addition, GM has named DENSO Supplier of the Year 12 times.

In 2005, DaimlerChrysler Corporation presented DENSO with its Global Supplier Award.

In 2002, Ford Motor Company awarded DENSO with its Recognition of Achievement World Excellence Award.

Manufacturing
A North American manufacturer for more than 25 years, DENSO’s 24 North American manufacturing facilities operate on a foundation of continuous improvement.  No matter how small a process, it is a powerful link to another and yet another process.

General Motors Corporation named DENSO its 2005 Supplier Corporation of the Year, an honor given annually to only one of GM’s nearly 30,000 suppliers.  This was the second time DENSO earned this designation.

Technology Leadership
DENSO’s drive to develop new technologies focuses on three strategic areas: safety, information and communications, and the environment. Our ultimate goal, as a leading automotive component supplier, is to create automobile systems that enhance car safety and comfort and reduce the impact of the car on the environment, while at the same time transcending existing product categories and fields.

Research & Development
A consistently high level of R&D investment has been central to creating DENSO’s renowned technological expertise in numerous product categories. DENSO annually commits approximately eight to nine percent of its non-consolidated sales revenue for research and development. This drives technological innovation, which in turn, generates the next cycle of products.

DENSO’s fundamental R&D structure is built on a number of organizations in Japan – the DENSO Research Laboratories, Corporate R&D Department, Production Engineering R&D Department, Nippon Soken Inc., and DENSO IT Laboratory.

Each of DENSO’s six key automotive business groups – Thermal Systems, Powertrain Control Systems, Electronic Systems, Electric Systems, Small Motors and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) – also have independent R&D sections.

In developing new technologies, DENSO focuses on four strategic areas: environment, safety, convenience and comfort.

DENSO Engineers
Worldwide, DENSO employs more than 8,000 engineers.  Of these, nearly 5,000 dedicate themselves to research and development of products 3 to 15 years in advance of entering the marketplace.

DENSO Patents
In 2006, DENSO held 18,700 registered patents worldwide, including 9,100* in Japan and approximately 5,300** in the U.S.

*  As of fiscal year ended March 31, 2006
** As of fiscal year ended March 31, 2005

Environmental Leadership
As one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, DENSO strives to reduce the impact of automobiles on the environment. To do this, the company follows EcoVision 2010, an environmental global goals and objectives for the worldwide organization. The primary goal is to help create an advanced automotive society in which people, communities and the global environment coexist in a sustainable manner. EcoVision 2010 influences all stages of DENSO’s business – from research and development, product design, manufacturing processes, consumer needs through car use and end-of-life stages.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized DENSO’s environmental leadership four times:

• 2006 EPA Climate Protection Award for new technology – Ejector Cycle – that reduces energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of vehicle air conditioning, refrigeration units and residential heat pumps.
• 2004 EPA Climate Protection Award for developing (with Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Industries Corporation) an electrical inverter air conditioning system that provides cooling for the Toyota Prius during “idle” stop when the engine shuts down to save fuel and reduce emissions.
• 2002 EPA Climate Protection Award for developing and marketing (with Tokyo Electric Power Company and Japan’s Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry) the world’s first mass-produced CO2 refrigerant, heat-pump water heater for households.
• 1993 EPA Climate Protection Award for developing methods to convert air conditioning systems to HFC-134a, a more environmentally friendly coolant, which replaced the ozone-depleting CFC-12.

Since 1996, DENSO companies in North America have been recognized for environmental achievements with a total of 48 environmental awards.

In late 2001, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors ranked DENSO first among 18 automobile parts and supply companies in its environmental rating survey. DENSO’s global environmental actions that contributed to this ranking included its five-year worldwide environmental management plan (DENSO EcoVision 2005); a product environmental management system (EMS), and an annual environmental report published.

Management
Industry Week magazine named DENSO one of the “100 Best-Managed Corporations in the World” for two consecutive years.

North American History
DENSO has been doing business in North America for nearly 40 years. DENSO first entered the North American automotive market in 1963 when it began to supply alternators to Ford Motor Company.

The book, Proud Past, Strong Future: A History of DENSO’s First 50 Years, is available free to working media through DENSO International America’s Corporate Communications department.

First North American Product
DENSO’s first North American product was a starter-generator designed for and sold to McCullough Chainsaws (photo available in Media Center on www.densocorp-na.com). Andy Kataoka, retired chairman and CEO of DENSO International America, Inc., not only designed and sold DENSO’s first product in North America, but was also the first DENSO employee sent from Japan to look for business in North America.

Guinness World Record
One DENSO research project resulted in a Guinness World Record for the World’s Smallest Motorized Car — the DENSO Micro-Car.  About the size of a grain of rice, the Micro-Car project advanced DENSO’s capabilities in ultra-precision machining and semi-conductor processing technologies.  It also demonstrated the potential of micro-machine technology for both industrial and medical applications. For more information, see www.denscorp-na.com.