Osamu Suzuki, who was the president of the Suzuki concern for over 40 years, died in Tokyo at the age of 94, world agencies reported. They added that the Japanese had been one of the most influential figures in the global automotive industry for several decades.
The cause of Suzuki's death on Wednesday was lymphoma, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Japanese company. The agency recalls the contributions of the long-time president of the Suzuki concern both for the parent company and for the development of the automotive industry in India; In Japan Osamu Suzuki was called the “minivan pioneer”.
Osamu Suzuki is dead
He was born Osamu Matsuda on January 30, 1930, and took the surname Suzuki from his wife through adoption, a common practice among Japanese families that have no male heir. He was a banker by profession; in the late 1950s he married Shoko Suzuki – the granddaughter of the company's founder, Michio Suzuki. In 1958, he started working for the concern, and in 1978 he became its president.
In 1979, he introduced the Alto minicar, which turned out to be a hit. In the first half of the 1980s, Suzuki invested the entire year's profit in the development of the Indian automotive industry, and the first result of this investment was the Maruti 800 model, which was a success.
Suzuki company
Currently, Maruti Suzuki, the majority shareholder of which is Suzuki Motor, controls approximately 40 percent. Indian car market. The 2009 agreement with Volkswagen, which ended in a trial before the International Court of Arbitration, is mentioned as a failure in the over 40 years of management of the concern by Osamu Suzuki.
In 2016, Suzuki began to tighten cooperation with Toyota, which acquired 5 percent in 2019. shares in the company he manages. “For me, he was more than an admired business leader: he was like a father,” Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said of the deceased.
Suzuki was called a “generous miser” for his cost-cutting ideas; among others ordered the ceilings in Suzuki factories to be lowered to save on air conditioning. He was also thrifty himself – it is emphasized that even in his old age, when flying by plane, he bought economy class tickets.
When asked about the secret of longevity and good health, Osamu Suzuki mentioned playing golf and work as the main reasons.
Main photo source: PAP