Suzuki Motor ex-CEO Osamu Suzuki, who turned the minicar maker into a global player, dies at 94
Suzuki Motor Corp said on Friday that charismatic former boss Osamu Suzuki, who helped turn the Japanese minicar maker into a globally competitive company, has died. He is 94 years old.
Suzuki is known for his candid remarks and friendliness, calling himself the “old guy for small and medium-sized companies.” In 1978, he became CEO of Suzuki and led the company to become the first Japanese carmaker to start local production in India, where its cars were extremely popular.
Suzuki was born on January 30, 1930, and his original name was Matsuda Osamu. He worked in the banking industry after graduating from Tokyo Chuo University Law School. He joined Suzuki Motor Co., based in the central Japanese city of Hamamatsu, in 1958 when he married the daughter of the company’s then president, Shunzo Suzuki, who belonged to the company’s founding family. As is customary in such situations, Matsuda adopted his wife’s maiden name.
In 1979, a year after he became the fourth president of Suzuki Motor, he launched an affordable minicar that became a hit and spread to the world market.
Under Suzuki’s leadership, the company’s sales grew more than tenfold in the 2000s, to 3 trillion yen ($19 billion).
In the 2000s, Suzuki also led business partnerships with other global leaders such as General Motors and Volkswagen. Against the backdrop of intensifying competition and industrial transformation, Suzuki also formed a capital alliance with Toyota Motor Corporation in 2019 to jointly develop autonomous vehicles.
While other Japanese automakers have expanded into the U.S. and Chinese markets, offering a variety of vehicles, Suzuki has stuck to producing mini and compact cars, primarily in South and Southeast Asia.
Suzuki emphasizes the importance of understanding the grassroots.
Suzuki once said in an interview with NHK TV, “Making high-quality and low-priced products is the basis of manufacturing.” “When we sit in the president or chairman’s office, we can’t reduce costs, so I have to go to the factory to understand the work. and get ideas.”
Suzuki resigned as president in 2015 at the age of 85, handing the position to his son Toshihiro Suzuki. After resigning as chairman in 2021, he served as a company consultant.
The company said Suzuki died of malignant lymphoma on Wednesday.
