From Wikipedia
NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. (日本特殊陶業株式会社
Nippon Tokushu Tōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha?) is a
public company established in 1936 and based in
Nagoya, Japan.
NGK manufactures and sells
spark plugs and related products for
internal combustion engines, along with
ceramics and applicable products.
As of March 2007, the company employed 10,407 people,
[1] and operated a network of 7 liaison offices, 12 sales offices, 13 production sites and 2 technical centers worldwide.
[2][2] NGK Spark Plugs was founded as a spin-off of the spark plug division of
NGK Insulators.
[3] Originally, NGK supplied most of its products to Japanese automakers. Today the company is the largest
OEM sparkplug maker in the world.
Established in 1966 - NGK Spark Plugs (USA), Inc. was founded as a subsidiary of NGK Spark Plug Co, Ltd., of Japan. Its corporate headquarters was first located in
California and then moved to its current location in
Wixom, Michigan. The company produces spark plugs in
Irvine, California, and produces both spark plugs and oxygen sensors in
Sissonville, West Virginia.
NGK established its first European
subsidiary, NGK Spark Plugs (U.K.) Ltd. in 1975. Four years later NGK Spark Plug Europe GmbH in Germany was the next European subsidiary, in
Ratingen, Germany.
[6] The first technology center outside Japan started operation in Ratingen, Germany in 1990.
[6] In 1991 NGK opened NGK Spark Plug Industries Europe S.A.S., in
Orléans, France - its first European production facility.
[6]
Since 2000 NGK Spark Plug Europe in Ratingen operates its own
logistics center. It has a plant with 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft) of surface area and produces 25 million spark plugs as well as
glowplugs for
diesel motors.
