Vuteq's roots in America began not on a factory floor, but at a dinner table. In 1986, founder Kozo Fukuda opened a Japanese restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky to build community with the Japanese families arriving in the area. Within a year, that same commitment to hospitality and partnership had grown into the automotive business we know today.
Our Founder — Kozo Fukuda
In 1964, at the age of 24, Kozo Fukuda established an affiliate company to provide automotive window assembly services in Japan. With an investment of 2 million yen, he reorganized the business to better serve the automotive industry under the name Chubu Kogyo Co. Ltd. Mr. Fukuda's guiding philosophy — that a company should feel like a family, open and friendly — still shapes how Vuteq operates today.
The Restaurant That Started It All
When a major automotive manufacturer broke ground on its first US assembly plant nearby, Japanese engineers, executives, and their families followed. Mr. Fukuda saw an opportunity to serve them the way he would want to be served far from home. In November 1986 he established Chubu Trading Inc. as a US corporation, and one year later — November 1987 — opened a Japanese restaurant called Tachibana in Lexington, Kentucky. Tachibana was warmly received not only by the Japanese community, but by local Kentuckians who had never tasted authentic Japanese cooking. That restaurant is still operating today at 785 Newtown Court in Lexington.
From Dinner Service to Just-In-Time Delivery
In September 1987 — just two months before Tachibana opened its doors — Vuteq Corporation was established as a US subsidiary. Its first mission: supplying door glass and sunroof sub-assemblies. From a single contract, the business grew across North America.
North American Expansion
- 1986 — Chubu Trading Inc. established in Kentucky
- 1987 — Tachibana restaurant opens in Lexington, KY
- 1987 — Vuteq USA Kentucky Division founded in Georgetown, KY
- 1988 — Vuteq Canada Inc. established in Woodstock, Ontario
- 2001 — Vuteq Indiana opens in Princeton, IN
- 2005 — Vutex Inc. established in San Antonio, TX
- 2008 — Diversity-Vuteq operations begin in New Albany, MS
A Second Restaurant
The same hospitality philosophy that led to Tachibana carried across the Ohio River. Chubu Trading later opened a second restaurant, Iwataya, in Evansville, Indiana (now closed)— a short drive from the Vuteq Indiana plant in Princeton — again serving both the Japanese community and local neighbors.
Where We Are Today
Vuteq USA is headquartered in Georgetown, Kentucky and operates plants in Indiana, Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas, with sister Diversity-Vuteq operations in Indiana and Mississippi. Nearly 700 team members serve major OEMs through sequential parts delivery, sub-assembly, glass processing, plastics and metal molding, commercial logistics, and dangerous material transport. We are ISO 14001:2015 certified and a subsidiary of VUTEQ CORPORATION (Toyota City, Aichi, Japan).
The Philosophy That Still Guides Us
"Safety is the doorway to everything." Mr. Fukuda's original conviction — that a business should feel like a family — is why we still measure ourselves not only by delivered parts, but by how our team members feel walking through the door each morning.