Automotive components maker Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業) yesterday said it would continue introducing automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to its production lines to catch up with China’s fast-growing electric-vehicle market.
The eighth smart production line at the company’s plant in the Chiayi Dapumei Precision Machinery Park (嘉義大埔美精密機械園區) is scheduled to become operational in June next year at the earliest, local Chinese-language media quoted Hota chairman David Shen (沈國榮) as saying at an annual shareholders’ meeting in Taichung.
Hota, which mainly produces gears and shafts, supplies components to the world’s largest electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc.
Apart from Tesla, Hota is seeking collaboration with some Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturers to expand its customer base, Shen said, as sales of new gasoline and diesel-powered cars are to be banned by 2030 in many nations.
The automotive component supplier posted cumulative revenue of NT$3.01 billion (US$101 million) for the first five months of this year, up 5.89 percent from NT$2.84 billion a year earlier, thanks to an increase in customer demand.
The company reported a net income of NT$279.17 million last quarter, up 9.2 percent from NT$255.67 million a year earlier.
Gross margin last quarter fell to 33.2 percent from 34.8 percent a year earlier, while revenue rose 4.1 percent annually to NT$1.77 billion last quarter from NT$1.7 billion.
Hota shareholders yesterday approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$3.75 per share on last year’s profit of NT$1.21 billion, or earnings per share of NT$4.81.
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