YOKOHAMA Rubber Co, Ltd, has announced that its US subsidiary YH America, Inc (YHAI), will start production of automotive air conditioning hoses in Mexico.
YHAI, which engages in the assembly and sale of automotive air conditioning and power steering hoses, and also produces automotive windshield sealants, is a major supplier of automotive power steering hoses in the US, with sales to the US Big Three, as well as Japanese auto makers.
The Kentucky-headquartered, YHAI plans to begin delivery of the hoses to a Japanese car maker in Mexico from summer 2014, and will consign assembly to a local company rather than build its own plant.
Moreover, it said it is going to use the Mexican output to expand transactions with Japanese car makers and with the US Big Three. Local Mexican production will be located in the suburbs of the west central Mexican city of Aguascalientes, where a number of auto makers have established plants.
Extending its automotive hose and metal fitting assembly operations to Mexico will give it a third production base in North America, where it already has plants in Kentucky and South Carolina.