The charismatic former Suzuki boss, who helped make the Japanese compact vehicle specialist a globally competitive company, has died at the age of 94 from malignant lymphoma, the company announced Friday.
Osamu Suzuki became the company CEO in 1978 and was either chief executive, chairman or president until 2021, when — already in his 90s — he stepped down and took up an advisory role.
The start of his tenure coincided with some very important milestones in Suzuki’s expansion beyond the Japanese car market, such as the launch of the small city car Alto in 1979, which would become Suzuki’s oldest and longest-running car. sold all the time. Training
Furthermore, while other Japanese brands were looking at markets such as Europe, America and later China to expand, Osamu Suzuki’s first major overseas assignment took place in India. In 1980, his company married the Indian government and his long-suffering company Maruti.
The resolution was risky, but the partnership worked. Suzuki sold about a third of all its cars in India, making India the company’s most important market outside of Japan.
The company was consistently among the top 10 smartest motorcycle dealers in the world during Osamu Suzuki’s tenure, and was also a key player in motorcycle racing in Japan and beyond.
The company was founded by Patriarch Michio Suzuki in 1909. He initially specialized in production looms, engineer Suzuki’s design specialty.
In the 1930s, Michio Suzuki sought to diversify corporate and well-known private transportation, i. e. motorized bicycles or motorcycles, as a promising avenue for expansion.
However, during World War II, the Japanese government prohibited the company from making investments in “non-essential civilian production”, so its plans were abandoned.
Shortly after the war, when its loom business was threatened by automation and other advances, Suzuki rushed to resume its transportation plans.
The first product destined for post-war Japan, still decimated, almost a precursor to an electric bicycle: an undeniable bicycle equipped with a small two-stroke gasoline engine with constant braking force for additional thrust: the Suzuki Power Free.
Michio was also ahead of his time with his first car, the SuzuLight, which was waiting for Japanese demand for super-compact “kei” cars, designed for use in giant cities with busy roads and not enough parking space.
Born Osamu Matsuda in 1930, Suzuki worked in banking after graduating from Tokyo’s Chuo University School of Law.
He joined Suzuki Motor in 1958, after marrying one of the patriarch’s granddaughters, Shoko Suzuki. This a year after Michio stepped down as president and joined the advisory board.
Michio’s family empire had no sons waiting in line and so Osamu took the Suzuki name and began rising the ranks in the company.
In the years that followed, three other sons followed Suzuki’s helm, but none enjoyed the good fortune or longevity that Osamu would have enjoyed when he took over as CEO of Suzuki in 1978.
Known for his jovial nature and frank comments, he did not hesitate to target the company in the smallest, lowest-budget segment of the automobile market.
He would also regularly acknowledge that Suzuki was trailing behind Japanese giants like Honda and Toyota in sales — once calling himself an “old guy from a small to mid-size company.”
MSH/DJ (AP, DPA)