is a global automotive parts supplier with a focus on wire harnesses, instruments and components such as connectors and terminals. The company's origin and headquarters are in Japan, but in 2011, roughly 90% of its employees were outside the home country. Yazaki ranks among the largest worldwide automotive suppliers, ranked 13th by the industry journal

Automotive News ''Automotive News'' is a weekly newspaper established in 1925, written for the automotive industry, predominantly for individuals corresponding with automobile manufacturers and automotive suppliers. It is based in Detroit and owned by Crain ...

in 2015. The company's product lineup includes electrical cables, meter and auto instruments, gas equipment, air-conditioning, and solar-powered systems. As a first tier supplier, Yazaki sells chiefly to auto manufacturers, and, to a lesser extent, electric power, gas, and general construction companies. Yazaki is among the top 100 companies receiving the most US patents. The Yazaki Group's corporate headquarters are located in the Mita-Kokusai Building (三田国際ビル ''Mita Kokusai Biru'') in Mita, in Minato,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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. Its main R&D center and its World Headquarters are located in the Y-city compound in

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, Shizuoka prefecture. The company has its European headquarters in

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and the North American headquarters in

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, United States of America.

History and expansion

Starting as a small Japanese family business selling wiring harnesses for automobiles in 1941, Yazaki Group in 2011 employs more than 192,000 people worldwide, with about 90% of them (171,000) outside Japan. After World War II, Yazaki focused on automotive wire harness production and grew rapidly. Overseas growth increased strongly between 1974 and the 1990s. There were external and internal reasons for this increase. The main external reason was the general trend of Japanese automotive companies to move production abroad to avoid trade sanctions in this period. This strategy change was accompanied by a change of leadership within Yazaki, when heir Yasuhiko Yazaki succeeded the founder Sadami Yazaki in 1974, aged only 33. Between 1974 and 1990, overseas sales grew roughly 30 times (from about ¥4 Billion in 1974 to ¥116 Billion), while overseas employees increased tenfold (from 2,922 to 33,703). Yazaki India privet limited is the official supplier of

Mahindra BE 6 The Mahindra BE 6 is a battery electric compact crossover SUV produced by Mahindra & Mahindra. Based on the INGLO electric vehicle platform, the vehicle was introduced in 2024. Deliveries are scheduled between March and August 2025, with earli ...

and XE 9e, AR based Heads-Up-Display (HUD). Yazaki North American Headquarters Canton Michigan

Controversies

Price fixing

On January 30, 2012, the

US Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

announced after two years of investigation that it had discovered part of a massive

price fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...

scheme in which

Denso is a global automotive components manufacturer headquartered in the city of Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After becoming independent from Toyota Motor, the company was founded as in 1949. About 25% of the company is owned by Toyota. Despi ...

and Yazaki played a significant role. The conspiracy, which fixed prices and allocated components to such car manufacturers as

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

and

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, extended from Michigan to Japan, where it was also under investigation. Denso agreed to pay a fine of $78 million. Yazaki agreed to pay a fine of $470 million, and four Yazaki executives were sentenced to prison and assessed a $20,000 fine each.

References

External links

Yazaki Group website

Yazaki North America official website

Yazaki Europe official website
{{Authority control Automotive companies based in Tokyo Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Auto parts suppliers of Japan Manufacturing companies established in 1929 Japanese companies established in 1929 Japanese brands Multinational companies headquartered in Japan