Suzuki Motor chairman Osamu Suzuki dies at 94
Osamu, who helmed the company for four decades and steered its global expansion, died of lymphoma
Osamu Suzuki, the chairman of the Suzuki Motor Corp reportedly died of lymphoma on Wednesday (December 25) at the age of 94.
Born on January 20, 1930 as Osamu Matsuda in Japan’s Gero, he after graduating from Chuo University in 1953 worked as a loan officer in a local bank. His mundane life, however, saw a U-turn when he married Shoko Suzuki, the granddaughter of Michio Suzuki, who owned Suzuki Motor Corporation. As the Suzukis did not have a male heir, Osamu took the family name to become the adopted heir as per tradition.
Ground-breaking ventures
Osamu who helmed the company for over 40 years, steering its expansion worldwide, stepped down from the role of president in 2015 to make way for his son, Toshihiro Suzuki.
Osamu after becoming the company’s president in 1978, began its transformation. While his market competitors did business in countries like the US, and China, he took the unique initiative of manufacturing mini vehicles and compact cars for countries like India, Hungary and other regions in Southeast Asia.
Surge in sales
Under Osamu’s four-decade-long tenure, the automaker saw a spike in sales from 300 billion yen (USD 1.9 billion) in 1978 to over 3 trillion yen (USD 19 billion) in 2006, reports said.
Suzuki at present is one of the top motorcycle manufacturers across the world and has sold around 1.9 million units in the 2023-24 fiscal.
The company in 2023-24 sold over 3.2 million vehicles across the globe with over half being sold in India alone.
