The American continents are currently the most popular investment targets for car component supplier Toyoda Gosei (Tokyo / Japan; www.toyoda-gosei.co.jp). The company, which produces components such as airbags, dashboard instruments, weatherstripping and seals, has opened new plants in Mexico and Brazil to meet the mounting demand from the North American car manufacturing industry. In India, too, chairman Tadashi Arashima recently dedicated a new production facility.

By 2020, Toyoda Gosei Automotive Sealing Mexico aims to expand its production capacity for extruded seals in the San Luis Potosí plant by 50%. The measure is targeted especially to meet the strong growth of the automotive industry in North America. The company is paying USD 34.5m to purchase additional land and increase the size of the production halls. As a result, the production area will grow by 7,600 m² to 48,600 m², while the workforce will increase from its present 910 to 1,450 in 2020. The aim is also to double sales for the production facility within the same period to USD 124m.

In the booming car manufacturing country of Mexico, Toyoda Gosei already started up the new production line in Irapuato in May this year. Toyoda Gosei Irapuato Mexico, which is operated jointly with the minority owner Toyota Tsusho, produces such items as radiator grilles, centre consoles and tank caps for US customers on a production area of 37,000 m². From summer 2017, the 135 employees will also produce electroplated plastic parts. It is the supplier's fourth plant in the country and aims to contribute sales of USD 110m from 2020.

The Brazilian company GDBR Industria e Comercio de Componentes Quimicos, began manufacturing door sealing strips, components for instrument panels and airbags in the second quarter of 2016. Excluding Pecval Industria, which was acquired at the end of 2015, GDBR is the supplier's first own plant in the crisis-ridden country.

In India, the strong demand for safety products such as airbags is leading to further expansion. Joint venture Toyoda Gosei Minda India – in which Minda holds only a minority share of 8% – is building a production facility for airbags, seals and other components in Bawal in the state of Haryana. From March 2017, these components will be supplied to Japanese OEMs in the country. Toyoda Gosei is investing nearly EUR 8m in the 8,000 m² production plant near Delhi, which will employ 440 people. The new facility aims to take the pressure off the existing production line in nearby Neemrana.

The supplier's newest development is a capless fuel filler with a pipe connected to the tank – both made of plastic. The system will be used for the first time in the 2016 model of the Nissan "Serena", and is 40% lighter than the normal metal systems with the usual screw or bayonet cap, according to the supplier.

Toyoda Gosei is also represented in Europe since the acquisition of rubber products manufacturer Meteor Gummiwerke K. H. Bädje (Bockenem / Germany; www.meteor.de) in 2014. Last year, the Japanese supplier posted sales equivalent to EUR 6.1 bn and an operating result of EUR 311.5m.