TOYO TIRE CORPORATION 
By Osaka, Japan -27 January, 2012- Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (President: Kenji Nakakura, hereinafter Toyo Tires) has announced that it has agreed to establish a joint venture company in China to manufacture and distribute urethane seat cushions for transportation machinery such as automobiles, with Guangdong TGPM Automotive Industry Group Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China; General Manager, Xu Qiao Hua). To that end, a joint venture agreement was signed today.
Urethane seat cushions are flexible urethane parts used in seats for passenger cars and Motor-cycle vehicles. Through its advanced proprietary urethane material technology, Toyo Tires has achieved a lighter weight material that provides improved seating comfort, and is developing, manufacturing and distributing high value-added products that respond to society's needs.
TGPM is building its sales network with automobile
manufacturers, through manufacturing and distribution of
body sealers*, and development of car dealerships in the
Huanan Region centered around Foshan City, Guang-dong
Province in China.
(*Body sealers are products applied to the seams between
the steel plates in automobiles, for protection against
water, dust and rust.)
The establishment of the joint venture at this time is based on the harmony between the business strategies of Toyo Tires, whose goal is to enter the market for business in the high value-added urethane seat cushions in China, and TGPM who seeks to further expand their business with automotive manufacturers through participation in this new business.
In Toyo Tires' "Mid-Term Business Plan 2011" currently underway, new global development of urethane business is cited as one of the strategies for the Divertech Business Unit. This new Joint Venture is in accordance with the growth strategy, and is believed to contribute to future business expansion.
