TOKYO, JAPAN — Hitachi, Ltd., has announced that it will split off the company’s Consumer Products Group and Industrial Components & Equip-ment Group. The board of directors reached the decision recently and calls for the two groups to be split off in April 2002.

Hitachi’s Consumer Products Group produces refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and other products. The Industrial Components & Equipment Group is responsible for low-voltage motors, transformers, and air compressors.