Daikin Industries and Gree Electric Appliances agree to establish Joint Venture

In March 2008, Daikin Industries, Ltd. (based in Osaka, Japan, COO: Yukiyoshi Okano) and Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai (based in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, PRC, President: Dong Mingzhu) agreed to fuse Daikin's prowess in energy-efficiency technology together with Gree's expertise in production and procurement of raw materials and parts to manufacture economical, high performance inverter type air conditioners. The parties fundamentally agreed to cooperate in a 5-point plan (described in detail below) to promote the use of energy-efficient, inverter type air conditioners in regions of low market penetration. In implementing measures related to these areas of collaboration, the companies have agreed at this time to establish two joint venture companies in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, for joint production of key components and molds.
Establishment of the two new companies is planned for the middle of March 2009. One company, Zhuhai Gree Daikin Device Co., Ltd., is being established to standardize and jointly manufacture inverter type compressors and printed circuit boards (PCB), both of which are the key components of global residential air conditioners. The other company, Zhuhai Gree Daikin Precision Mold Co., Ltd., will manufacture high-quality molds at low cost on a short delivery schedule.
Through the standardization and joint production of compressors and PCBs, the key components of inverter air conditioners at Zhuhai Gree Daikin Device Co., Ltd., costs are expected to be considerably lower.
Daikin will introduce the latest mold technology and be responsible for building the quality management system at Zhuhai Gree Daikin Precision Mold Co., Ltd. These efforts will be merged with the Gree's abundant know-how and capability for manufacturing molds to provide timely delivery of low-cost, high-quality molds to Daikin manufacturing bases.
Because Daikin holds the No. 1 share in the global inverter air conditioning market and Gree holds the No. 1 share in the non-inverter market, the establishment of these new companies should improve cost competitiveness and enable a broader range of users for inverter air conditioners. By targeting expansion of the inverter market, even to places where market penetration for inverter technology is low, the two parent companies are leading the global air conditioning industry towards even greater environmental measures. 
 

Source: Transportweekly