Osamu Suzuki, former chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation, has passed away. He helped make the Japanese mini-vehicle manufacturer a globally competitive company. The company gave this information on Friday. He was 94 years old. Suzuki was known for his candid comments and friendliness, the AP reported. He called himself the old man of a small to medium sized company. He became CEO of Suzuki in 1978 and led the company when it became the first Japanese automaker to begin local production in India. Its cars proved to be extremely popular in India.
Joined Suzuki Motor in 1958
According to the news, Suzuki, born Osamu Matsuda on January 30, 1930, worked in the banking sector after graduating from Chuo University School of Law in Tokyo. He joined Suzuki Motor in 1958, based in the central Japanese city of Hamamatsu. He married the daughter of the company’s then-president, Shunzo Suzuki, who was related to the company’s founding family. As is sometimes the custom in such situations, Matsuda adopted his wife’s maiden name.
Affordable minicar launched
In 1979, a year after becoming the fourth company president of Suzuki Motor, he launched an affordable minicar, which became a major hit and was widely promoted in markets around the world. Under Suzuki’s leadership, company sales increased more than tenfold in the 2000s to 3 trillion yen ($19 billion). Suzuki also entered into business alliances with other global leaders such as General Motors and Volkswagen AG in the 2000s.
Suzuki worked with mini and compact cars
Suzuki also formed a capital alliance with Toyota Motor Corp in 2019 to co-develop self-driving vehicles, amid increasing competition and industrial change. While other Japanese automakers have expanded into the American and Chinese markets, offering a wide range of vehicles, Suzuki has worked with mini and compact cars, mostly in South and Southeast Asia. Suzuki stressed the importance of understanding the grassroots. Suzuki once said in an interview that making products with good quality and low price is the basis of manufacturing. We cannot reduce costs by sitting on the post of president or chairperson, so I have to stay in a factory to understand the work and know the ideas.
Suzuki resigned as chairman in 2015 at the age of 85, handing over the position to his son Toshihiro Suzuki. After resigning as chairman in 2021, he worked as an advisor to the company. Suzuki died of malignant lymphoma on Wednesday, the company said.
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