Message from the President

We extend our deepest gratitude to our stakeholders for your continued exceptional support. The year 2025 marks a milestone as the fifth anniversary of the management integration between Aisin Seiki and Aisin AW and the final year of our three-year Medium-term Management Plan.

Aisin’s operating environment continues to present increasingly tough prospects, marked by widening regional disparities in progress with electrification and intensifying protectionism in various countries. Amid these conditions, revenue decreased by 0.3% year-on-year in FY2025, to ¥4,896.1 billion, primarily owing to a decline in unit sales of powertrain components. On the other hand, despite the revenue decline and investments in people and future development, operating income increased by 41.5% year-on-year, to ¥202.9 billion, driven by yen depreciation and efforts to improve corporate fundamentals.

For FY2026, we forecast revenue to edge up 0.1% year-on-year, to ¥4.9 trillion. We project operating income to rise by 1.0% year-on-year to ¥205.0 billion, reflecting strategic investments in medium-to-long-term growth, fortified investment in our people, and the impact of US tariff policies. What is more, we expect the cumulative effect of corporate restructuring efforts and structural reforms over the three-year period from FY2024 through FY2026 to reach approximately ¥200 billion, which demonstrates steady progress with profitability.

Progress on key themes from the 2025 Medium-term Management Plan

This year we saw tangible results from the two core initiatives we established since my appointment as President in 2021: significantly shifting our management course toward the future and strengthening our management foundation and earnings structure.

Transforming our business portfolio with an eye to 2030

Further transformation at Aisin

This year, with our 2030 growth scenario now in sight, we are taking an even longer-term perspective and conceptualizing a vision focused on 2035. The nature of mobility is changing daily, pressed by evolving social needs and cutting-edge technologies. Amid these changes, Aisin must transform from a manufacturing company into a company that provides the full value of movement. To achieve this, when engaging with employees internally, I pose the question: “What constitutes truly inspiring mobility?” This prompts us to consider whether we are leveraging Aisin's cultivated strengths to offer new value to our customers, or inspiring experiences through mobility. This line of thinking encourages a paradigm shift to a place beyond traditional manufacturing. I firmly believe this shift in mindset will ultimately enhance the value we deliver and make us a more profitable company.

Aisin, as a parts manufacturer closely aligned with automakers, is deeply knowledgeable about vehicle manufacturing and able to provide numerous products and services that support mobility. We have leveraged this strength to lay out a roadmap based on two modular units: the chassis, which supports a vehicle's driving, turning, and stopping functions, and the upper body, which ensures users experience safe, secure, comfortable, and convenient mobility. By integrating cutting-edge technologies like AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing into these modules, we will deliver unprecedented value in mobility. Achieving this requires collaboration beyond the confines of our company via partnerships with IT firms and other external entities. Accessing external expertise also stimulates innovation within Aisin. For example, our YYSystem initiative, which we created with Microsoft's development assistance, has enabled continuous performance improvements and expanded our range of applications. We consider increasing such external collaborations crucial moving forward.

Furthermore, we are actively investing in areas beyond automotive parts manufacturing. We aim to strengthen businesses in the aftermarket and energy segments so as to increase our proportion of sales from non-automotive parts manufacturing—currently 4%—to 10% in the future and establishing it as a new revenue source for Aisin. One such initiative is the biofuel bio-briquette charcoal, for which we have established a joint venture in Indonesia where mass production is set to commence during FY2026. Created with the aim of realizing energy transition and resource recirculation, this product will contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions from manufacturing processes by serving as an alternative to coking coal.

Over the next decade, Aisin will steadily advance its transformation from a manufacturing company to a company that provides the full value of movement, transcending the boundaries of automotive parts and leveraging advanced technologies and collaborations with external partners.

People are the foundation of Aisin's transformation.

As Aisin enters this transformative period, enhancing our employees' ability to add value is increasingly vital. I firmly believe that people are our greatest asset and am actively driving investment in human capital.

In our newly established materiality issues centered on the idea of “empowering diverse talents for personal fulfillment” is one of our three priority themes. Respecting diversity and fostering a mindset accustomed to challenges are essential to realizing this. While we have expanded our frameworks by promoting diversity & inclusion, we now recognize the importance of creating a culture where motivated employees feel empowered to take on challenges. Coupled with performance-based evaluation and compensation, this promotes a virtuous cycle throughout the organization. In support of this program, we are introducing a new personnel system and developing mechanisms to actively encourage such challenges.
These initiatives have already sparked change within the company. The EV Promotion Center, established in response to the shift toward electrification, created a sense of urgency and incited action within the company. Its impact spread to other departments, raising the momentum for companywide challenges. Furthermore, the significant growth achieved by AISIN Aftermarket has instilled courage and confidence to take on challenges across the Group and revitalizing the entire organization.

The teams and individuals who accepted these challenges have grown and become more resilient. Employee mindsets are shifting toward self-directed personal development, and perspectives are broadening outward. To leverage this shift in mindset and support new growth, we position DX and the application of generative AI as key initiatives. We aim to use the time freed by operational efficiencies these tools offer as opportunities for each employee to challenge themselves with creative work only humans can do and using the experience to drive individual growth and corporate value creation. At Aisin, we champion the idea of DX for all and promoting companywide AI adoption rather than focus on specific departments. To accelerate this, we have appointed AI utilization leaders in each headquarters division. We firmly believe that the leveraging of DX and generative AI by our diverse talent base will foster a diversity of outputs and enhance the organization's overall creativity and competitiveness.

An open workplace culture is essential to supporting the contributions and efforts of diverse talent. I prioritize dialogue with employees, listening to frontline voices while constantly working to improve the workplace environment. I can tangibly feel the culture shifting.

Sustainability management further enhances corporate value

An outlook informed by sustainability is also indispensable for enhancing corporate value. In recent years, Aisin has partaken extensively in dialog both internally and externally with the encouragement of our revised Charter of Sustainability and reassessing materiality issues facing the company. As a result, Aisin's stance on sustainability has significantly changed. Particularly with regard to identifying new materiality issues to focus on, we positioned sustainability, which had often been discussed separately from business topics, at the center of our effort to enhance corporate value. The Board of Directors has actively engaged in this process, and we will continue to accelerate our efforts toward achieving sustainability management.

New materiality issues and paths toward realization

As Aisin enters a transformative era, the effectiveness of the Board of Directors and the decision-making process are more critical than ever. To enhance these functions, we established a separate Governance Forum in the previous fiscal year that works alongside the Board of Directors, deepening discussions with outside directors on the ideal form of the Board. This fiscal year, to enrich direct discussion of corporate value creation, we welcomed two new outside directors: Mr. Yasuhito Hirota, a seasoned expert in business strategy, and Ms. Keiko Tatsuwaki, who is well-versed in governance, risk management, and sustainability. We will continue advancing governance reforms so the Board of Directors can lead Aisin's transformation from the top.

Delivering the full value of movement

Since becoming President, I have strongly urged employees to break down every barrier to Aisin's sustainable growth and survival. As we shift from an business structure centered on automatic transmissions toward one based on electrification, we must reassess everything, from core technologies and product approaches to manufacturing methods. This is much more than a technological transition; it involves a comprehensive transformation of Aisin's mentality that encompasses the company's structure, work processes, and the mindset of each employee. Rather than rejecting the past, we have used the expression “full model change” to denote our resolve to renew everything for the upcoming era.
While the concept of ‘mobility’ will continue to evolve, Aisin's management philosophy, “Inspiring ‘movement,’ creating tomorrow” carries on. Guided by this philosophy, we will make the switch from manufacturer to a company that provides the full value of movement.

We underscore that dialogue with our stakeholders is essential for sustainable growth. To instill a deeper understanding of Aisin's initiatives, we have engaged in frequent dialogues with our many stakeholders. The opinions and expectations shared during these discussions have provided valuable insights for our management and driven progress. Moving forward, we will create more opportunities for dialogue with all our stakeholders, sincerely listen to their stories, and strive to add to our corporate value.

This year, as the fresh, green shoots of spring arrive, 788 new employees have joined the Aisin Group. As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, these employees, whom we will support and value, will support the Aisin of 40 years from now as they work alongside our current active employees to shape the future. It is difficult to imagine how mobility will have evolved 40 years from now, but Aisin wishes to remain a company standing at the heart of mobility, delivering the thrill of movement and joy to people around the world. We look forward to advancing together with our employees toward our 100th anniversary.
We sincerely appreciate your continued support and trust.