Publicly listed Mobiletron Electronics Co., a maker of auto-ignition parts, recently announced that it would invest NT$240 million (US$6.98 million at NT$34.4:US$1) to build a new global headquarters in the central Taiwan city of Taichung. The new facility is to be completed in the second quarter of next year.

The company's president, Tsai Yu-ching, reports that the headquarters building will have seven floors and will house administration, R&D, key-parts manufacturing, and global technology-support centers. Next year the firm will apply to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) for recognition of the global headquarters, which will qualify it for special government incentives.

Tsai predicts that his auto-electronics business will grow by 30% this year, thanks partly to the introduction of in-car multimedia-platform products and booming sales of auto-ignition parts in emerging markets such as mainland China, India, and Iran.

In another of the company's areas of business, electric hand tools, business is expected to increase at only a modest rate because of problems faced by one of its major buyers, Porter-Cable Machine Co. of the U.S. This situation has prompted Mobiletron to expend more vigorous efforts on the expansion of its customer base and the minimization of dependence on single buyers for individual lines.

The company is operating in mainland China as well as Taiwan, and is beginning to see a payoff from its investments there. Tsai expects the mainland operations to generate 35% to 40% of the firm's total revenues this year, with the figure possibly topping 50% in 2004. The production of traditional products will continue to be shifted to the mainland, freeing up Taiwan's capacity for the production of items with higher margins.

To accelerate its globalization and dilute its image as a family enterprise, Mobiletron will soon offer a seat on its board of directors to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC), a fund-management body set up in 1981 to manage Singapore's reserves. It currently has more than US$100 billion in assets, which it invests in equities, fixed-income and money- market instruments, real estate, and special projects around the world.

Tsai says that US$25 million of an upcoming US$30 million issue of Euro-Convertible Bonds (ECBs) will be reserved for the GIC, which the Singapore enterprise will be able to convert into about 15% of Mobiletron's equity after a year.

This will be GIC's first involvement with a publicly invested company in Taiwan, Tsai says.

Diversifying Upward

The Singapore firm will be buying into a company that is aggressively diversifying its product range into high-tech, high-margin auto-electronics parts. It is already marketing an auto multimedia-display system through its American subsidiary, Media View, and plans to develop tire-pressure monitoring systems, high-resolution mini cameras, and other auto safety and security products using technology from other subsidiaries.

Tsai says that the company's auto-electronics business department will eventually shift its focus to auto safety and security systems, and then advance into the field of optoelectronics.

The company recently developed a versatile rearview mirror that serves as a multimedia platform with a number of functions. A four- inch thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) screen built into the mirror under a special surface coating allows the mirror to serve not only as a high-end anti-glare mirror but also as an information-display and monitoring center. It can display images transmitted by a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera mounted at the front and/or rear of the car, a DVD or VCD player, an in-car inspection camera (to keep watch on a baby in the rear seat or goods in the trunk), or global positioning system (GPS) device. The mirror display is controlled by a hands-free unit.

The functions of the mirror can be further expanded to include a wider angle of view (achieved by using wide-angle cameras) and night-vision capability, the recording of images via a digital video recorder (DVR) unit (useful in providing evidence in cases or accident or crime), tire-pressure display (using wireless sensors in the tires), and an electronic compass. The company's ultimate goal is to offer a mirror that serves as a multimedia platform and replaces all in-car entertainment, security, and navigation devices.

Mobiletron was established in 1982 and today has a capitalization of US$24.8 million and over 1,000 employees worldwide. It offers one of the world's most comprehensive supply lineups of auto-ignition modules and alternator components for almost all car models on the world's roads, including voltage regulators, rectifiers, and diodes. It is also a major supplier of electronic hand tools.