Exedy Globalparts Corporation

EXEDY Globalparts Corporation is the US subsidiary of EXEDY Corporation of Japan, a clutch and powertrain-component manufacturer that traces its roots to Daikin Clutch Corporation, founded in Japan in 1923. EXEDY's US operations were established in 1967, and since 1988 the company has manufactured EXEDY and Daikin clutch products domestically for both OEM and aftermarket automotive customers, supplying vehicle brands including Acura, BMW, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Mazda, and Mercedes-Benz with clutch kits, flywheel kits, and OEM clutch assemblies, including performance-oriented Stage 1, Stage 2, and Hyper Series racing clutch lines. In 2024-2026 the company diversified into unmanned aircraft through a new business unit, Exedy Drones, based at its Van Buren Township, Michigan facility at 8601 Haggerty Rd. According to VP of Engineering, Operations and Technology Scott Binder, the pivot was driven by the maturing automotive transmission market and vehicle electrification, which reduced demand for traditional clutch development; the company sought to apply its existing computational fluid dynamics expertise to a new market rather than compete purely on price. Exedy Drones manufactures American-made agricultural spray drones designed for growers and applicators who need precision spraying and spreading within tight seasonal spray windows; its flagship model, the Ayre CX, targets a 50-70 liter payload range and received FCC Conditional Approval in July 2026 as part of the agency's onshoring framework for domestically produced drones. The company states its products are engineered, manufactured, and supported in the United States, are increasing their US-sourced content over time, and comply with FAA Part 44807 authorization and FCC Remote ID requirements. Exedy Drones has announced partnerships with AcuSpray for dealer development and American Autonomy for software integration. EXEDY Globalparts Corporation thus operates two distinct product lines under one Michigan-based entity: legacy automotive clutch manufacturing and a newer agricultural drone division. The Van Buren Township site itself illustrates the transition, as the company converted part of a former automotive-transmission-component manufacturing facility into a drone production plant rather than opening a separate greenfield site. On the legacy side, EXEDY Globalparts continues to serve the North American automotive aftermarket and OEM channel with clutch and flywheel kits under a quality policy that emphasizes zero-defect manufacturing and continuous quality-management improvement, drawing on more than 65 years of US manufacturing history since the domestic business was established in 1967. On the drone side, Exedy Drones markets its Ayre CX through channels including its own exedydrones.com storefront and dealer partners such as AcuSpray, and the FCC's conditional approval process places it alongside a small group of drone makers seeking to qualify as domestically produced alternatives to foreign-manufactured agricultural drones under evolving FCC and FAA onshoring rules. Employee count for the combined Michigan operation is reported at roughly 11-50 by third-party business data providers, reflecting a specialized manufacturing workforce rather than a large-scale mass producer.