was a Japanese automotive company with 58 manufacturing centres spread throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. The corporation was the result of a merger in 2000 between Calsonic Corp., which specialized in air conditioners and heat exchangers, and gauge maker Kansei Corp..

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

increased its shareholding in the company from 27.6 percent to 41.7 percent in January 2005. In November 2016, Nissan confirmed plans to sell its stake to U.S.

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

, who later obtained the rest of the company as well in February 2017. In early 2019, Calsonic Kansei was merged with auto-parts maker

Magneti Marelli Magneti Marelli S.p.A. () is an Italian developer and manufacturer of components for the automotive industry. The firm is headquartered in Corbetta, Italy, and includes 86 manufacturing plants, 12 R&D centres, and 26 application centers in 19 c ...

, which was purchased for 6.2 billion euros from

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding company Exor was the largest ...

, by its parent and 100% owning fund,

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

History

On August 25, 1938, Calsonic Corp. was founded as Nihon Radiator Manufacturing Company, Ltd., with

radiators Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

as its product line. Nagao Gentaro was its first president. In 1952, the company was renamed more simply as Nihon Radiator Company. Nissan Motor would purchase 60% of the company's share in April 1954 for the purpose of securing the supply of radiators. That same year, Nihon Radiator began producing

muffler A muffler (North American and Australian English) or silencer (British English) is a device for reducing the noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine—especially a noise-deadening device forming part of the exhaust sys ...

s, and a year later it began producing car heaters. The name "Calsonic" was first used in 1976 to refer to Nihon Radiator's first overseas manufacturing plant in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

within the

, combining the state's name with the word "sonic" from sonic speed to denote the company's dream of expansion. By 1988, Nihon Radiator changed its name to Calsonic Corporation in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Kansei Corp. was established on October 25, 1956 as Kanto Seiki Company, Ltd., spinning off of Nissan Motor with instrument clusters as its main product. In 1960, the company headquarters and manufacturing plant would be relocated from Akabane, Kita, Tokyo Metropolis to Ōmiya City, Saitama Prefecture (now Saitama City. On April 1, 2000, Calsonic and Kansei were merged to form Calsonic Kansei. Nissan increased its shareholding in the company from 27.6 percent to 41.7 percent in January 2005. On November 22, 2016, American investment firm KKR & Co. announced that it will purchase Calsonic Kansei for $4.5 billion, succeeding over rival private investment firms

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

and

MBK Partners MBK Partners (MBKP) is a North Asian focused private equity firm. According to Forbes, MBK Partners is one of the largest private equity firms in Asia, managing $25 billion worth of assets. Overview MBK Partners was founded in 2005 by Michael ...

. KKR stated that its intention in buying Calsonic Kansei would be to help its international expansion while the company's local Japanese market is shrinking. By March 23, 2017, KKR officially completed the

tender offer In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corp ...

for Calsonic Kansei. On October 22, 2018, Calsonic Kansei announced that it would be merged with components manufacturer

from

(FCA), acquired by the parent fund

for $7.1 billion (€6.2 billion). The news was mostly wrongly reported by the press as Calsonic Kansei purchasing Magneti Marelli, while the transaction happened between KKR and FCA. The company's previous bid of nearly $5.9 billion was deemed too low by FCA. By May 2019, Calsonic Kansei and Magneti Marelli united under one brand name, Marelli, as part of its strategy to compete on a global scale.

Business segments and products

Cockpit module and interior products

*Instrument panels * Air conditioning units *Instrument clusters *Integrated switches

Climate control systems

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

units * Condensers *

Compressors A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can trans ...

Compressors

* Variable displacement compressors *Rotary compressors

Heat exchange products

Radiators Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

* Condensers *Motor fans *Internal air coolers *Oil coolers *Evaporators

Electronic products

*Body Electronics **Body Control Modules **Auto Driving Position Systems **Airbag Control Units **Occupant Detection Systems **Keyless entry *Human Machine Interface components *Power electronics components

Exhaust systems

*Exhaust manifold converters *

Muffler A muffler (North American and Australian English) or silencer (British English) is a device for reducing the noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine—especially a noise-deadening device forming part of the exhaust sys ...

s * Emission control devices

Sponsorship

Calsonic Kansei is primarily associated with

Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a Japanese former racing driver and businessman. Motorsport career Hoshino's nickname was . He won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan facto ...

Impul Hoshino Impul Co., Ltd., (known as Impul) is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company based in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. Founded by Nissan's factory driver, Kazuyoshi Hoshino, the company exclusively produces aftermarket parts for Nissans, such as body ...

racing team in Japan, sponsoring them as Calsonic since 1982 as a

title sponsor Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

. By 2016, Calsonic Kansei is the longest-running title sponsor of a motor sports team in the world. On March 9, 2016,

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing team

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...

announced a multi-year partnership with Calsonic Kansei. Calsonic is also the official radiator cooling supplier for

Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Re ...

since 2007.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1938 2000 mergers and acquisitions Auto parts suppliers of Japan Companies based in Saitama Prefecture Manufacturing companies established in 1938 Nissan