Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (president: Tokio Horigome) and Diacel Chemical Industries, Ltd. (president: Daisuke Ogawa) have agreed to establish a joint venture company in Kentucky, USA to manufacture and sell inflators for automobile airbags.

The new company, Daicel Safety Systems America, LLC,* will be incorporated in December 2000 with paid-in capital of US$15 million, 34% to be contributed by Toyoda Gosei and 66% by Daicel Chemical. Production is slated to commence in July 2002. By 2005, the company is expected to have approximately 130 employees and to achieve annual sales of around US$65 million.

For Toyoda Gosei, the joint venture is part of the worldwide development of its airbag and steering wheel business. In addition to ensuring a stable supply of airbag inflators, Daicel Safety Systems America will provide a base for expanded operations and prompter customer service in the North American region.

The new company will pursue an aggressive plan of business development, cultivating new clients and adapting to meet the demand for increasingly sophisticated airbag systems and modules.

*LLC: Limited Liability Company