BREA, Calif. – American Suzuki Motor Corp., will
consolidate its independent business units - Automotive,
Motorcycle/ATV and Marine, along with Corporate
Operations - under a new president, Kinji Saito, the
company reported in a release yesterday.
All the changes are focused on internal restructuring
and “do not affect the separate dealer bodies that
support each of the company's product divisions,” Suzuki
said.
Saito, who most recently served as deputy executive
general manager, Global Marketing at Suzuki Motor Corp.,
in Japan, will oversee all of the operations, sales and
marketing activities of American Suzuki, according to
the release.
Rick Suzuki, who has served as chairman of American
Suzuki, will become its board advisor. Mark Harano,
currently president of the Automotive Operations;
Masaaki Kato, president of the Motorcycle, ATV and
Marine Operations, and Motoo Murakami, president of
Corporate Operations, will now become executive vice
presidents of the consolidated company and continue to
oversee their respective operations.
"American Suzuki believes it is very important to make
changes and respond to the evolving needs of American
consumers," said Saito. "It is ideal for all of our
divisions to work more closely together, plan together
and communicate together as a single company, rather
than as separate business units.
“This reorganization reflects our strong commitment to
the United States marketplace, and we are very
optimistic about the many opportunities that our new
corporate structure will provide in promoting
collaboration, leveraging our innovative brand spirit
across all products, supporting our dealers and
continually improving Suzuki's entire product lineup in
the United States."
In 1999, Saito was named Suzuki's representative to
India, and in 2002 became director, Marketing & Sales of
Maruti Suzuki India. During his tenure, Suzuki was
India's leading and most dominant automotive company,
with a passenger car market share that today exceeds 50
percent, the company said. American Suzuki is looking
toward this strong new leader to navigate the company to
success in these tough U.S. economic situations.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to help lead
Suzuki's efforts in the United States," said Saito.
"American buying habits are changing and Suzuki is very
well positioned for success in the U.S. thanks to our
diversity of outstanding products, including many which
we plan to launch very soon. I look forward to working
closely with my colleagues and fellow employees in
continuing to make Suzuki a great success in the United
States."
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