The Consul General of Japan and representatives from Honda and One Columbus were on hand Thursday, Dec. 4, to celebrate the opening of Astemo Americas Inc.’s new sales and engineering office, strategically located in East Liberty, near its client base.
The new office at 25790 State Route 287, East Liberty, which formerly housed Nissin, will serve Astemo as both a sales office and a development site. The 9,000-square-foot facility includes office space for employees and two garage bays, which facilitate prompt response to customers’ needs, Astemo officials said.
“Being a Tier 0.5 supplier means being precisely where our customers need us” said Tim Clark, Astemo Americas president and CEO. “We’re opening this site next to key offices, by the Honda Auto Development Center and by Transportation Research Center. This will be our key meeting space with Honda engineering group.
“Our new office in East Liberty reflects our commitment to sit side by side with our customers as their most responsive business partner to take the challenges of our fast-changing industry.”
The program at the new facility also was hosted by John Nunneley, Astemo America’s senior vice president of design engineering and IT.
“We’ve been supporting Honda in America for a very long time,” he said during the opening remarks to the group, which proceeded a facility tour, technology demonstrations and a ribbon cutting ceremony. “Now we can continue that timely, on-site support for the seamless adaptation development support.
Honda APD Vice President Mike Lapham assisted with the ribbon cutting portion of the ceremony and offered remarks as well before the facilities tour.
“Astemo is our number one supplier. The success of our two companies is intertwined,” Lapham said. “We’re looking forward to the close proximity and quick turnaround time.”
In January 2021, Hitachi Automotive Systems, Keihin, Showa, and Nissin Kogyo completed a business merger and began their journey as the global mega-supplier “Astemo.”
The company named, Astemo, was formed by combining the first letters of the words “Advanced Sustainable Technologies for Mobility.” The new name describes the mission of the integrated company: “to provide a safe, sustainable, and comfortable mobility life through technologies that contribute to an advanced and sustainable society.”
Astemo provides advanced mobility solutions in the areas of electric powertrains for automobiles, advanced chassis, autonomous driving/advanced driver assistance systems, and systems for motorcycles.
In addition to reducing traffic accidents and traffic congestion, Astemo aims to “reduce the burden on the environment by cleaning exhaust gas and improving fuel efficiency to contribute to the realization of a society that is both people and eco-friendly,” according to https://www.am.astemo.com/.
Consul General of Japan Hajime Kishimori, who covers both Ohio and Michigan, admitted that when he began serving in this role, he didn’t know much about cars. However, since that time, he’s visited Ohio more than 30 times and he said he’s enjoyed the opportunities to learn more about the latest automotive technologies and the talented employees behind the vehicles rolling off the production lines.
“We’re making cars more sophisticated; we want to know how can we help with this movement,” he said. “Congratulations on your new facility. We’re looking forward to working with you.”
