Osamu Suzuki To Retire After More Than 40 Years At Suzuki’s Helm

Chairman Osamu Suzuki will retire in June 2021. Photo credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty … [+] Images

AFP via Getty Images

After some four decades in top management roles at Suzuki, Chairman Osamu Suzuki last week announced his retirement. At 91-years young, Osamu is an icon of the auto industry and one of its longest serving CEOs. He made the decision to retire after the company celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and approved its new management plan. 

Osamu is a Suzuki lifer in a company that was founded by the grandfather of his wife. That means of course that he took the family name of his wife, a rare occurrence in Japan’s male dominated society.

He joined Suzuki in 1958 and worked his way up through the chain of command. As one of the industry’s longest serving CEOs, he held the positions of president, CEO and chairman since 1978, and maintained the title of chairman for the last 22 years. In 2016, he stepped down from his role as CEO to take responsibility for Suzuki’s use of inaccurate road testing methods for vehicle fuel economy figures. When he retires in June, 2021, he will relinquish that position to his son and current company president Toshihiro Suzuki.

Osamu is credited with transforming the corporation into one of the world’s largest small car manufacturers, with his most notable achievement being the timely entry into the Indian market in the early 80s. The joint venture he helped create, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, currently holds a market share in India of over 50%. Thanks to his vision, Suzuki today also holds No 1 share status in countries like Pakistan and Hungary and boasts 35 production facilities in 23 countries with a sales network that covers 193 countries.

The Suzuki Jimmy won the 2019 World Urban Car award.

Photo courtesy of Suzuki

In addition to big-selling models like the World Urban Car award-winning Jimny and the popular Swift, Suzuki is also a manufacturer of some of the best motorcycles and racing bikes on the planet. The firm proved its caliber on two wheels when East German rider Ernst Degner won Suzuki’s first Grand Prix championship in 1962. “And I was there for our first victory. Those were great times,” he remembers. Since then, the company has gone on to become a major global force in all forms of motorcycle racing.

At a trophy ceremony back in 2019, I had the chance to sit down with the soft-spoken Osamu for a short chat. Listening to the self-confessed racing enthusiast reminisce about his days back in the early 60s traveling with champion riders Degner and New Zealander Hugh Anderson was a rare treat. “I would spend quite a lot of time searching for good Chinese restaurants—for the riders and team to eat good food and good rice—in South America and elsewhere, and I would struggle to make over 5 dozen energy-packed rice balls to feed the team during the day,” he said. 

The writer presents the World Urban Car trophy for the Jimny 4WD’s win to Chairman Suzuki at their … [+] Japan headquarters in 2019.

Photo by Mami Lyon

Chairman Osamu seemed to have a soft spot for Degner, especially given that the star rider had defected from East Germany to the West, brought precious German MZ motorcycle tuning technology with him and then gone on to win the Grand Prix championship in 1962. “The personality differences between the two riders was fascinating and challenging at times. Degner was proud and meticulous, while Anderson was easy going and courteous. But they were both intensely competitive and believed in our bikes,” he stressed.

One of his greatest disappointments was the very public falling out with Volkswagen after they formed an alliance in 2009 to co-develop hybrids and electric vehicles. But the two firms could not agree on details of the project and Suzuki moved to end the venture two years later, demanding VW sell back the stock it had purchased for $1.9 billion.

When asked what his dream was, Osamu replied like a young executive just starting out. “I want to be No 1. We are already No 1 in India, Pakistan, Hungary and some parts of Asia, but I think we can expand that to other regions too.” A great goal indeed although in terms of ranking, reaching No 1 in more markets will be a tall order. He will go out on a high note though, having spearheaded the formation of a capital alliance with Toyota in 2019 to co-develop self-driving technology. Osamu will also be remembered for his fiscal integrity which is reported to be the main reason that allowed Suzuki to sell small, low priced cars and still make a profit.