Zexel is a Japanese auto-components manufacturer. It was founded in 1939 as Diesel Kiki Co., Ltd., under a Bosch license, for domestic production of fuel-injection pumps for

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s. Originally established with an investment from Isuzu Motors Ltd., (a major

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 n ...

ese manufacturer of engines for heavy-duty vehicles), this company was renamed ZEXEL Corp. in 1990. Diesel-Kiki entered into a joint venture in the United States with Wynns Climate Systems to begin manufacturing automotive HVAC systems in approximately 1987. The company was called Wynn-Kiki at the time and was the predecessor to ZEXEL USA. The ZEXEL rebranding was a two-year project involving a worldwide name search and complete marketing strategy analysis. The company logo featured red, white and blue colors picked to represent precision, technology and excellence. A CD was distributed to employees featuring a new company theme song. The name was compiled from the words zenith and excellence. The company is said to have reached the zenith of its performance under its old name of Diesel-Kiki, and has excelled well at customer satisfaction. In their translation, it came out ZEXEL instead of ZEXCEL. The company was reorganized as Bosch Automotive Systems Corp. and Valeo Japan in 2000 after Robert Bosch GmbH of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

bought majority shares in Zexel Corporation. The Zexel name is now a Bosch

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, but the assets were split between Bosch and Valeo.

Research and development

Since its inception as Diesel Kiki Ltd., the company has developed a number of products that exemplify Japanese automotive engineering quality. Because of the firm's sizeable

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

capacity, it was also involved in international

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

projects such as the reduction of ozone depleting substances, mitigation of

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

emissions, among others.

Ownership changes

Following the Bosch takeover, there was a series of ownership changes that resulted in the division of the major business groups: fuel injection pumps, automotive airconditioners, bus airconditioners and mobile refrigeration units, and the differential and

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. T ...

product lines. For example, M.C. Bernardo Inc. (the exclusive representative of Diesel Kiki/Zexel in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

) had to turn over business to Robert Bosch Philippines, like other Zexel partners in other countries and regions.

Automotive airconditioners

bought the automotive airconditioner business, and refocused manufacturing to support the European market. The shift in focus was the reason why Zexel Automotive Climate Control Systems (ZACCS) stopped its operations providing products, unit prototyping and after-market services to Isuzu,

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 ...

, Nissan Diesel and Columbian Motors (a Kia assembler) in the Philippines. Zexel's US operations were headquartered in Decatur, Il. and focused on A/C compressors for Saturn at that facility. The Texas facility produced evaporator assemblies, otherwise called cooling units, hook up tubes and condensers. Customers of that plant included Mazda, Subaru, Isuzu and Volvo. The plant produced more than three thousand condensers per day and pioneered certain aspects of parallel flow condensor design and manufacturing.

Bus airconditioners and refrigeration

Thermo King Thermo King is an American manufacturer of transport temperature control systems for refrigerator trucks and trailers, refrigerated containers and refrigerated railway cars along with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for bus and ...

bought into the bus airconditioner and refrigeration lines.

Differentials

The Torsen differential was purchased by

Toyoda Machine Works JTEKT Corporation is a Japanese corporation created in January 2006 upon the merger of two companies: Koyo Seiko Co. and ''Toyoda Machine Works''. Toyoda Machine Works, Machine tool sales for North, Central and South America, aftermarket suppor ...

Ltd. which eventually merged with another company to form JTEKT Torsen North America.

References

External links

{{Automotive industry in Japan Isuzu Automotive companies of Japan Japanese brands