Date: May 2005

KYB America LLC, Kayaba’s wholly owned aftermarket division covering the USA and Canada, is projecting a third consecutive year of strong sales growth in 2005, having just completed 18 months of intense reorganisation to prepare for a major expansion in this market over the medium term.

KYB has now reached a clear number three position in North America behind domestic producers Gabriel and Monroe, and currently has a 12% market share in the USA (up from 7% in 2002), and 15% in Canada (up from 4% in 2002).

New life has been breathed into the American company by its new president Shinichero Maekawa, formerly managing director of Kayaba Europe, and senior vice president Mike Howarth, who set-up Kayaba UK in 1997 and went on to become assistant general manager of Kayaba Europe. Developed from Kayaba’s highly successful European business model, the reorganisation in North America has seen a complete review of its operation including marketing, sales, customer service, logistics and administration.

Said Mr Howarth, "These changes have enabled us to begin moving the KYB brand from being perceived as a small niche player, specialising in shocks and struts for import vehicles, to being seen by the North American aftermarket as a world class manufacturer with full coverage of the light vehicle parc for domestic as well as import vehicles. KYB is increasingly seen as a viable alternative to the old established players as our quality and range coverage is second to none.

"Although our company has been trading for over 30 years in the USA, we simply weren’t getting into the major distribution channels of the $625 million market. Today we’re trading with nine of the top 10 programme groups, including names such as Alliance, Carquest, Federated and the ADN group."

In terms of products, KYB has four key lines: the GR2 twin tube gas shock for OE replacement; monotube Gas-a-Just; MonoMax for SUVs and pick-ups, which account for a massive 45% of the light vehicle parc; and on-car adjustable AGX. This gives KYB range coverage of around 98% across the 220 million light vehicle parc, which now includes full coverage of the big three domestic marques - Chrysler, Ford and GM - as well as the imports.

"We now have better coverage than the market leader," says Mr Howarth, "and this, combined with by far the best quality product on the market, and a company infrastructure that has been completely upgraded to support significant future growth, means we are well positioned to mount a sustained effort to build our aftermarket business in North America. Our goal is to become the market leader."

As part of its focus on aftermarket expansion, KYB America LLC recently opened a subsidiary in Mexico City as a platform for further growth in Central and South America.

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KYB America LLC is headquartered in Chicago, where it has a 100,000 sq ft distribution centre, and a second 80,000 sq ft facility near Los Angles. The business was formed in 1975, and today employs 76 people.

Ref: KYB05/2005