Lear & Toyota Boshoku restructure joint venture

Lear Corporation and Toyota Boshoku announced that they have agreed to restructure their current joint venture (JV) which supplies seating systems and other interior components to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana for the Sienna minivan, built in Princeton, Indiana.



As part of the agreement, the existing joint venture will be dissolved with Lear receiving $35 million in cash in exchange for its minority interest in the JV. Lear will supply Toyota Boshoku with certain components for the Sienna minivan program and both parties will continue to compete directly for other business on a Tier 1 basis.



As part of the restructuring of their existing joint venture arrangement, Lear and Toyota Boshoku have also agreed to form a working group to jointly identify and pursue sourcing opportunities for certain seating components, including Lear's Pro Tec™ active head restraint system, as well as purchasing opportunities for key commodities such as steel, foam and textiles.



"Today's announcement represents an evolution of our partnership with Toyota Boshoku," said Bob Rossiter, Lear's chairman, CEO and president. "While our companies remain competitors, it makes sense for us to collaborate on certain product, technology and purchasing initiatives by leveraging each of our unique strengths for the benefit of our mutual customers."



"We are pleased to continue our relationship with Lear and we are looking forward to providing our customers with even better value as a result of the new agreement," said Toyota Boshoku President Dr. Shuhei Toyoda.



Toyota Boshoku , headquartered in Kariya City, Japan, is a global supplier of automotive interior and seating systems, filters, powertrain and other components for a variety of customers. It has revenues of more than $12 billion, with 35,000 team members and operations in more than 20 countries.



Lear Corporation is one of the world's leading suppliers of automotive seating systems, electrical distribution systems and related electronic products. The company's world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by a diverse team of 91,000 employees at 215 facilities in 35 countries.