MOTOFUMI SHITARA, Chairman, India Yamaha Motor

An economics graduate by qualification, Motofumi Shitara joined Yamaha in 1986. He joined Yamaha in their submarine division then and continued with that division for 20 years. The hard work paid off and Shitara san was given the post of General Manager for Business Planning Division, Marine Business, Yamaha Motor Company, in 2011. Four years later, he was promoted to Executive Officer at Yamaha Motor Company.

Come 2018, Shitara san would become the Managing Director of Yamaha Motor India Private Limited and Yamaha Motor India Sales Private Limited. In this position, he oversaw the incorporation of CBS and ABS transitions to Yamaha’s range in India. In 2019 Shitara san introduced the MT-15, a naked street bike that shares the YZF-R15 version 3.0 engine. The bike has received a favourable reception in India, which should give Shitara san a boost for, maybe, introducing a few more new goodies by the Japanese manufacturing giant. Perhaps, the Tenere 700 or MT-07? We can only hope.