JECS Corporation (formerly Japan Electrical Control Systems Co Ltd) is an automotive components company headquartered in
Isesaki,
Gunma
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima P ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and a wholly owned subsidiary of
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
. Its principal products are electronic control units, software, semiconductors, mechatronics, resin molding, inspection technology and material analysis.
JECS was formed in June 1973.
It was a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch and stylized as BOSCH, is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosch is 9 ...
,
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
Motor Co. and Diesel Kiki Co., Ltd.. It enabled Nissan to use Bosch's engine control technology, and gave Bosch access to the Japanese market. JECS later expanded to manufacture many other automotive parts besides
EFI systems.
History
*1956 Unisia established.
*June 1973 JECS formed.
*1993 JECS merges with Atsugi Unisia, becoming Unisia JECS Corp.
*November 1999 The French clutch company
Valeo
Valeo is a French global automotive supplier headquartered in France, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange ( CAC-40 Index). It supplies a wide range of products to automakers and the aftermarket. The Group employs 113,600 people in 33 countries wo ...
buys shares in Unisia JECS clutch division to gain entry to the Japanese market.
This closely follows
Renault's purchase of a controlling interest in Nissan, April of the same year.
*Mid 2001 Unisia JECS forms joint venture with Bosch Braking Systems Co. to produce power steering systems.
*October 2002 100% of Unisia JECS Corp. bought by
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
, delisted from stock market, renamed Hitachi Unisia Automotive, Ltd.. Previously, Nissan Motor, Hitachi and Robert Bosch owned 25%, 17% and 10% respectively.
*2003 Unisia JECS opens factory in
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, China, to cut costs as demanded by Nissan.
*2004 Hitachi Unisia Automotive Ltd. merged into Hitachi, Ltd.
*2004 Unisia JECS opens factory in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, China, to make water pumps and valves.
Motorsport Sponsorship
Unisia JECS sponsored the
Hasemi Motorsport team in
JTCC and
JGTC
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...
from 1991 until 2002. The Unisia JECS
Skylines (GT500) and
Silvias (GT300) also featured in video games & toys.
Applications
16-bit ECUs from JECS were produced for the 1993+
Nissan 300ZX
The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car that was produced across two different generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z.
It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2000 a ...
.
Technology
Electronic Fuel Injection
Bosch first produced the
Jetronic Jetronic is a trade name of a manifold injection technology for automotive petrol engines, developed and marketed by Robert Bosch GmbH from the 1960s onwards. Bosch licensed the concept to many automobile manufacturers. There are several variation ...
EFI system in 1967. K-Jetronic & L-Jetronic followed from around 1973
which is when Nissan became involved.
L-Jetronic
Early JECS systems were L-Jetronic, with Bosch moving vane airflow meters. These systems used a mixture of German & Japanese parts. The electronics were Japanese, the sensors often German, the fuel pumps/regulators made under license to Bosch by
DENSO.
LH-Jetronic
By the mid-1980s, JECS were using LH-Jetronic, and the new Bosch hotwire
mass airflow meter
A mass (air) flow sensor (MAF) is a sensor used to determine the mass flow rate of air entering a fuel-injected internal combustion engine.
The air mass information is necessary for the engine control unit (ECU) to balance and deliver the co ...
. The early JECS LH-Jetronic systems were based on a
Motorola 6800
The 6800 ("''sixty-eight hundred''") is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the Motorola 6800 family, M6800 Microcomputer System (latter dubbed ''68xx' ...
architecture, using many
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
components. The earliest hotwire meters were still from Germany, but by the end of the 1980s all of the system components (pumps, sensors, injectors, ECU) were being made in Japan.
References
{{Bosch
Automotive companies established in 1973
Japanese companies established in 1973
Companies based in Gunma Prefecture
Auto parts suppliers of Japan
Nissan
Joint ventures
Hitachi
Robert Bosch GmbH