Happy New Year to all of you and to your families.

　In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to express my great appreciation to those who worked during winter vacation.

　As it was the dawn of a new era of the 21st century, I believe 2001 was a worthy year for us to take steps to achieve more growth and improvement of our company.

　Having started last January with the delivery of FPD for Jaguar, we proceeded to launch a new model of RXO for Nissan Skyline, FPF for Mazda and FPH for Ford Europe, one after another. We also had new business for the CVT series and a new 6-speed AT.

　Furthermore, new business activities with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation and projects in Korea/China have become more tangible.

　I am grateful to all of you for your efforts, which have made it possible for the company to achieve unexpectedly high performance.

　As you know, the automobile industry has entered an era of severe competition to meet global environmental standards. We at JATCO TransTechnology aim to become a global supplier with cutting edge technology and lower priced products to meet the higher demands of our customers.

　At the same time, the automatic transmission industry has faced tightening of fuel consumption requirements, since the global environment has become a center of worldwide attention. Demand is increasing for production of higher speed ATs and CVTs and for development of multi-type ATs, combined with electric motors, etc., for this purpose.

　We forecast that our business opportunities will be expanding due to the substantial increase of AT-equipped vehicles expected in Asia and Europe.

　In spite of the difficult environment surrounding us last year, our company was still able to achieve much higher results than expected because of your great efforts. I thank you very much for what we were able to achieve together.

　This year the economic situation continues to be far from reassuring due to the severe economic conditions, particularly after the terrorist attack in the U.S.

　Our company is lucky enough to have business opportunities despite the severe circumstances. We at JATCO Transtechnology aim to become a strategic partner to automobile manufacturers around the world, and we intend to advance as a comprehensive supplier of an intelligent powertrain system for the purpose of building a higher-profit -earning company. We have many strategies to achieve these goals.

　This year, we plan to launch CVT1 and then CVT3. These projects are going on very smoothly thanks to your efforts. We also need to pay close attention to quality control of these products. It is very easy to lose our customers’ confidence in our products and our company could be put out of the market if there appears to be a lack-of-quality-control problem. Quality is everyone’s responsibility, and I ask you all for your continued support and cooperation in this regard.

　In addition, I would like to ask you all for your even greater support and assistance for promoting low cost activities, known as BP21, in order to produce higher profit earning and strengthen our corporate structure. It is essential for us to seek more extensive knowledge of production and procurement, from different points of view, in international standards of the field.

　We will be making every effort to form a business combination with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. This new business is aimed at combining the AT & CVT divisions, growth divisions, of both companies, resulting in a full line of products, more synergy and economy of scale production. We believe that the success we can achieve will increase enormously with the combining of our resources.

　Changing the topic at this point, we unfortunately ended up with three workmen’s accidents last year, which caused great sorrow to their families. I hope we will be able to tackle this problem with a continued effort to secure a safe environment of the workplace with appropriate management supervision.

　The environment surrounding us changes continuously, as I mentioned earlier. Therefore, we should maintain a long-term vision in order to follow our plan in a timely manner. In this way, we will be able pass a successful future on to the next generation.

　As I mentioned earlier, we still have many subjects to tackle. However, we can look forward to a bright future, depending on how we approach things. I believe these objectives are achievable with your continued support and assistance and hope you will show your commitment to reaching our goals with the JATCO TransTechnology Spirit.

　I hope that this year will be an even greater year for our company and for all of us.