2010

NTN Corporation (hereafter, NTN) and China's Luoyang LYC Bearing Co., Ltd. (Luoyang LYC) officially signed a contract on October 11 in the city of Luoyang, China, to establish a joint venture to manufacture and sell automotive bearings in China. Mass production is scheduled to begin in October 2012.

1. Purpose of establishing the joint venture

As a priority initiative in its medium-term management plan, “NTN 2010 for The Next Step,” NTN is accelerating the enhancement of sales and production systems in emerging nations. NTN has been expanding a business of various automotive products in which NTN has high technologies and quality, including the top market share in the world for hub bearings, as well as industrial machinery products for the Chinese market where demand is rapidly increasing.

Luoyang LYC is a top-of-the-line Chinese bearing manufacturer. The company is well known in China and boasts an extensive sales and procurement network, and it aims to further develop sales in the automotive market.

Through this joint venture to manufacture and sell 2nd and 3rd generation hubs and needle roller bearings in China, NTN's quality and technology will be combined with Luoyang LYC's strengths in local procurement. Together, the two companies aim to provide optimum quality and high added-value services to expand sales in the automotive market in China, where production continues to increase.

Including this joint venture, NTN aims to achieve sales of 100 billion yen in China in 2015.

2. Future plans

After establishment of the joint venture in February 2011, the new company plans to begin construction of plant builing and expects to begin mass production in October 2012.

3. Outline of the joint venture