Makita at a Glance

Makita Electric Works was founded in the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture on March 21, 1915. It was a time when demand for electricity was growing rapidly, driven by the economic boom around the time of World War I that began the year before.

Mosaburo Makita joined Nagoya Dento Co., Ltd. (current Chubu Electric Power Company) while he dreamed of starting his own business. Shortly after he heard that Meiji Electric, headquartered in Tokyo, had run into financial difficulty, and decided to close its branch factory in Nagoya and sell machinery and equipment, he concluded a contract to acquire the machinery and equipment. At the same time, he requested Meiji Electric to dispatch workers as well, and Jujiro Goto was appointed to the task, who ended up laying down the foundations of the Company.

With only four members including Mosaburo, aged 21, operating the factory as its owner, and Jujiro, aged 17, the small factory started to engage in selling and repairing lighting equipment, motors, and transformers. This was the starting point of the Company.

In 1955, the Company was in danger of going bankrupt due to a slump in sales amid the recession in the wake of the Korean War, Jujiro Goto became President. Under those circumstances, Jujiro launched the development of proprietary products as an important issue. This is because motors, one of Makita’s core products are only parts used as a power source of machine tools and hard to be differentiated from our competitors’ and therefore demand for the Company’s products varied depending on the business performance of customers.

Employees desperately explored seeds of new products. In 1957, the Company embarked on the development of portable electric planer. In the following year, 1958, the Company finally launched the first domestically produced portable electric planer (model 1000). Despite a totally different production process and customers from those of motors, Jujiro had confidence in the performance of the product credited to original motor production technologies and adopted aggressive pricing strategy at about one-third the price of imports.

Model 1000 allowed inexperienced workers to do work as well as experienced workers with a uniform and beautiful finish. Consequently, its reputation spread, and it gained popularity among builders and carpenters throughout the country. The Company thus transformed into a specialized electric power tool manufacturer.

In 1970, established a new facility (Okazaki Plant) with modern mass production facilities. In the 1980s, Makita worked to further improve productivity and quality by promoting computer-controlled automation of production.

In the meantime, Makita pursued global expansion in high gear. In 1970, Makita established Makita U.S.A., the first overseas subsidiary in New York City and subsequently sales and service bases in major cities including Chicago and Los Angeles (Later, Makita U.S.A. moved to Los Angeles). In the U.S., known as the home to electric power tools, and Makita faced fierce competition with American manufacturers. However, high quality of Japanese products drew the attention of American consumers, recognized as the products’ good reputation for cost-effectiveness and the high-quality after-sales services by which we steadily penetrated the North American market. Following the U.S., Makita established overseas subsidiaries one after another in France, the U.K., and Australia. Marketing strategies that suited to the situation of each country gradually produced results and thus Makita grew into a global company.

From the 1970s to the early 1990s, Makita was required to deal with trade friction and the yen’s appreciation. The Japanese economy was hit by the Heisei recession with an uncertain outlook that had persisted since the burst of the bubble economy in 1990. Under such unstable circumstances, President Masahiko Goto (the current Honorary Chairman) set out “Strong Company” as a key phrase for the Company’s long-term goal, aiming to become a strong company unaffected by changes in the external environment.

Makita expanded local production further to avoid foreign exchange risks and launched production in the U.K. in 1991 and in China in 1995 besides plants in the U.S. and Brazil. The Company thus promoted a shift in production to overseas factories and transformed itself from an exporting company to a true global company.

In 2005, Makita became the first in the industry to start sales of cordless impact drivers equipped with lithium-ion batteries, successfully increasing the service life of batteries, as well as downsizing products, reducing their weight, and increasing the power of equipment. Also in 2005, Makita launched electric rotary hammer drills equipped with Anti Vibration Technology (AVT), which achieved a 20% improvement in work efficiency and approximately 30% reduction in vibration compared with conventional models. These lithium-ion battery powered products and AVT-based products had a great impact on the market, increasing awareness of Makita’s high technological capabilities all around the world. At last, they contributed significantly to boosting the image of the Makita brand.

After adopting lithium-ion batteries for professional-grade power tools ahead of others in the industry in 2005, Makita focused on enhancing the lineup of such products. In 2009, Makita geared up its efforts for developing outdoor power equipment (OPE) in attempt to develop OPE into the next pillar of business in addition to power tools.

Makita celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2015. At that time, one of the major strategies Makita has set with an eye to the next 100 years is “shifting from engine-powered to battery-powered.” By leveraging its proprietary motor and recharging technologies, Makita will promote the shift in the mainstream of OPE products from engine-powered to battery-powered so as to survive and thrive in ever-changing business environment while continue taking on new challenges to create a carbon neutral society.