•The Longest Serving Leader of any Global Automobile Company in the World.
•Created Fortunes for Suzuki Motor Corporation by clear vision and outstanding strategic execution & action.
•Laid the foundation of Maruti Udyog in early 1980s in India, now Maruti Suzuki India which is the No 1 Car Maker in India and one of the highest business and profit Contributor to it’s global HQ at Japan.
In around month’s time Osamu Suzuki, the Former Chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) would have turned 95! He was born on Jan 30, 1930
During his initial career he worked as a loan officer in a local bank. His fortunes turned when he married the granddaughter of the patriarch of SMC, Michio Suzuki who back then didn’t have a male heir.
In the year 1958, Osamu Suzuki joined SMC. He worked as a junior employee across several departments and swiftly rose to the position of director and then Senior Managing director by 1972.
He had been instrumental in the global expansion of SMC. An expansion strategy called Marketing by Diplomacy, which entails discovering unserviced, unexplored market fragments. A strategy clearly mastered by Suzuki san as he expanded SMC’s businesses across several parts of the world and established supremacy in small cars.
Anuj Guglani, CEO, World Auto Forum ( WAF) mentioned, ‘Osamu Suzuki san shall always remain one of the greatest inspirations of the global automotive world. The propelling force at Suzuki Motor Corporation during his years devoted to the company and now even beyond.’
The joint venture with the Indian Government during the early 1980s was a defining moment for the Indian car industry as well as the strong global R&D and business footprint of SMC!
India buzzed with Meri Maruti, ghar ghar Maruti and soon the Maruti 800 hatchback was ubiquitous and an accepted sign of Middle class prosperity!
Around the same time came the association with General Motors where the former picked up a 20% stake in SMC, giving them access to American and European markets. Expansion into Asia and Asia Pacific region was also concurrent leading to the company’s transformation into a prominent global automobile maker specialising in small cars of various shapes!
An Avid golfer, in one of the interactions, he mentioned in the year 2020, he had golfed a whopping 47 times. Interestingly he was 90 years old then! Something which surely kept him young and focussed!
Let’s celebrate Osamu Suzuki San and live each day based on his values, commitment and principles! That shall be the best commemoration to Him and the Only way to make him immortal!
