{"id":69177,"date":"2026-01-30T00:52:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T03:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotive.einnews.com\/article\/887823577"},"modified":"2026-01-30T00:52:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T03:52:59","slug":"japanese-automakers-rush-to-explore-partnership-with-shriram-after-mufg-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/japanese-automakers-rush-to-explore-partnership-with-shriram-after-mufg-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese automakers rush to explore partnership with Shriram after MUFG investment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Japan\u2019s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has seen a surge in interest from Japanese automakers hoping to tap its 20% stake in Indian non-bank lender Shriram Finance to boost sales in the fast-growing Indian market, an MUFG executive said.<\/p>\n

India has become a major investment focus for MUFG \u2013 Japan\u2019s largest banking group \u2013 and for clients such as Toyota, with business generated through the Shriram investment potentially lifting profitability across the group, Yasushi Itagaki, head of MUFG\u2019s global operations, told Reuters in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers are thinking about this more than we imagined,\u201d Itagaki said.<\/p>\n

IMPROVING PROFITABILITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shriram is a major provider of commercial and passenger vehicle credit to SMEs and individuals, with more than 3,200 branches, including in regions where Japanese firms have little presence.<\/p>\n

Since the deal was announced, MUFG has fielded calls from automakers seeking to grow sales, for instance by offering preferential financing through Shriram.<\/p>\n

Once the acquisition is completed, MUFG plans to set up a dedicated team to develop such opportunities, with staff on the ground working alongside colleagues in Tokyo and Singapore, Itagaki said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very natural that we work together on this,\u201d Itagaki said.<\/p>\n

He said the acquisition could further improve profitability, even after MUFG raised its medium- to long-term return-on-equity target to 12% in May last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf realising synergies is faster than we anticipated, we may hit our targets sooner,\u201d Itagaki said.<\/p>\n

India is also becoming a more attractive investment destination amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an environment of protectionism and fragmentation, you don\u2019t want to rely too much on external demand. I think the U.S. and India are two major countries that can stand firmly on their domestic demand,\u201d Itagaki said.<\/p>\n

MUFG\u2019s $4.4 billion investment for a 20% stake in Shriram \u2013 the largest cross-border investment in India\u2019s financial sector \u2013 adds to its corporate banking, digital finance and startup investments in the country.<\/p>\n

Restrictions on foreign investment in India\u2019s financial sector are gradually easing, and Itagaki met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central bank governor and other senior officials to advocate for the acquisition.<\/p>\n

At a press conference last month, an MUFG Bank executive said lifting the Shriram stake above 50% was a possibility, but Itagaki said further investment was not currently planned.<\/p>\n

Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n

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… surge in interest from Japanese automakers<\/span> hoping to tap its 20% … , MUFG has fielded calls from automakers<\/span> seeking to grow sales, for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}