91-year-old Suzuki chairman to bow out
Suzuki Motor Corporation's 91-year-old chairman Osamu Suzuki is stepping down after leading an automaker for longer than anyone else in the industry.
Suzuki, who served as the Japanese carmaker's chief executive for 22 years and then as chairman for another two decades, will step down from his current role following a shareholders meeting in June, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. He will remain as a senior adviser.
With almost half a century at the helm, Suzuki is widely credited with turning the carmaker into what it is today: one of the largest small-vehicle manufacturers in the world. Instead of taking Japan's biggest auto giants like Toyota Motor Corp head on, Suzuki worked to grow the company by finding new markets around the world for its compact automobiles, building a dominant share in India during his first of two terms as
president
2000.
The nonagenarian also steered Suzuki into alliances with two of the world's biggest automakers, Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co, though those ultimately failed.
His departure comes one week after Honda Motor Co's chief executive Takahiro Hachigo said he would resign effective June, underscoring the churn the Japanese auto industry is currently undergoing. Japanese carmakers are beginning to recover from a tough pandemic-marred year, but even as demand revives, they're struggling to meet sales targets amid a global chip shortage.
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