Akashi Kikai Industry (M) Sdn Bhd has launched Malaysia’s most advanced Electronic Automatic Transmission (E-AT) plant in Negeri Sembilan. This new plant was built at a cost of RM200 million and supplies exclusively to Perodua.
Perodua Chairman, Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin said, “For this year, Perodua is targeting a new sales record of 208,000 vehicles and this means that we will be keeping Akashi Kikai very busy.”
Akashi Kikai Co Ltd of Japan entered an agreement with Negeri Sembilan’s Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) and developer BSS Development Sdn Bhd on 7 March 2012 to acquire a 113,000 sq meter piece of land. The plant’s initial size was 13,000 sq meters and is capable of producing 200,000 gearboxes a year. Daihatsu has allocated RM100 million for capital and employs 200 staffs.
Mr Noriyoshi Matsushita, President of Akashi Kikai Industry Co Ltd of Japan said, “Akashi Kikai Industry (Malaysia) started a small volume production on March 3 last year, exactly 2 years after the signing. It (the new plant) expanded the production volume from last summer (August) and achieved stable and full-capacity production status this year.”
Akashi Kikai will also be producing manual transmissions at the request of Perodua. They have so far supplied more than 180,000 units of electronic automatic transmissions (E-AT) to Perodua.
Perodua President & CEO, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said, “We are very happy that Malaysia was chosen for this project as it shows that the country is still a viable investment destination for investors.”
The new Akashi Kikai plant is located in Sendayan TechValley, Seremban.
