Denso

It's "now or never" against the competition, President Akio Toyoda says.

A plastic that includes wood-pulp nanofibers can weigh one-fifth of steel and be five times stronger.

The latest alliance in the growing field of automotive data-sharing.

Toyota has a strong commitment to fuel cell technology despite doubts within the field.

The dirty secrets of the multibillion-dollar wiring harness industry are being uncovered bit by bit, as more suppliers are found to be connected to a global price-fixing scandal. Automotive News reports that Damon Lowney

The three-year investigation by the US Department of Justice into price-fixing allegations by auto parts suppliers continues, with two more fish from the swamp of corruption the latest to be sentenced. Reuters reports that Denso executives Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watanabe will do 16 months and 15 months in US jails, respectively, for their roles in setting prices for

According to a Reuters report, the Japanese government and several of the country's largest manufacturers are joining forces to rescue troubled electronics manufacturer Renesas Electronics. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Panasonic, Canon and Denso are set to contribute a combined $637.9 million to a $2.55 billio

Two more Japanese auto industry suppliers, Yazaki and Denso, have been fined by the U.S. Department of Justice and four executives from Yazaki will go to jail, according to reports in the New York Times and Automotive News. Yazaki's $478 million fine and Denso's $78 million fine come on top of the $200 million penalty paid by another Japanese supplier, Furukawa Electric Company, last November as Jonathon Ramsey

Have you ever approached a traffic light saying, "Stay green! Stay green!"? If you have, like most of us, then your wish is about to be granted. Denso, a Vista, CA based company, has created a system that allows communication between a traffic light controller and an approaching vehicle using what they call vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication using short range wireless transmitters. The communication system sends the traffic light controller data on approaching vehicles such as speed, whether

Japanese automotive supplier Denso wants to expands its business of selling components and systems for hybrid and electric powertrains and sees standardization as a way to get there. Toyota is Denso's largest single largest shareholder with 23 percent of the suppliers stock. Denso has been supplying parts like inverters, sensors and electronic control units for many years.

Back in late 2006, two of the world's largest auto suppliers, Bosch and Denso, teamed up to create a joint venture to develop and produce diesel particulate filters. The joint venture was to build a plant in Poland near a Bosch brake parts plant. The partners were to have spent €8 million each on the factory.

Many people likely think of castor oil as a medicinal product, and, according to the Food and Drive Administration, it is in fact effective as an over-the-counter laxative. Yum! Auto parts supplier Denso has found another use for the oil that comes from the castor bean: construction of certain plastic components. Specifically, the first castor oil plastic product to roll out of Denso's Japanese labs is as a radiator tank. We suspect that Toyota is the first automaker that will feature the tanks,

A Denso factory in Anjo, Japan that makes parts for hybrid vehicles (and other components) will be expanded by 25 percent (by 1.2 million square feet) in the near future. Denso will spend around 6 billion yen ($53.9 million) to provide more hybrid parts to Toyota and Denso's other partners. Hans Greimel at Automotive News (subs req'd) writes that the expansion and the growing hybrid market "suggests Denso will surpass Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH as the world's biggest auto supplier this year." H

Toyota can now lay claim to having fielded the first hybrid vehicle to win an endurance race. The Denso SARD Supra HV-R won the Tokachi 24-hour race in convincing fashion, finishing 19 laps up on the second place car for a total of 616. The hybridized Super GT-spec Supra took the pole, lea

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In the ongoing effort to clean up diesel engine emissions, fuel system suppliers are pushing competing fuel injector technologies. Siemens VDO, Robert Bosch GmbH and Magneti Marelli are all developing piezo technology, while Delphi claims it can improve conventional electro-magnetic solenoids to the point where they can meet the Euro 5 emissions standards. Japanese supplier Denso is actually going down both paths. The driving force behind updating the injectors is to enhance the precision of the

The two largest automotive suppliers in the world, Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH and Japan's Denso Corp. have agreed to a new joint venture. The companies will team up to develop and manufacture particulate filters for diesel engines. The new company will be established somewhere in Eastern Europe early in 2007 with each parent owning a 50 percent stake. Starting in 2009 they intend to produce a new generation of cost effective and high performance filters made from cordierite. They will each m