There's a new president at Suzuki
Suzuki is on a roll, setting sales records, enjoying three years of double-digit sales growth, introducing the new SX4, and working on a larger and better model mix. Getting people in place before for the next phase really takes off, the company has announced that Masafumi (Mark) Harano will become president of automotive operations of American Suzuki Motor Corporation as of May 1, 2007.
Currently the president of Suzuki Canada, Inc., he has previously held positions in marketing and product planning in 19 years with the company. His task will be to ensure Suzuki's profitable growth continues as the company introduces five more models over the next four years, some of them in segments they haven't been in before. He replaces Koichi Suzuki, who will return to headquarters in Japan to run Suzuki North America's marketing department.
[Source: The Auto Channel]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ronald 6:45PM (4/24/2007)
good job suzuki. keep up the good work. Your new creations are better than ever.
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judd 6:22PM (4/24/2007)
Now is he smart enough to bring the swift sooner rather than later.
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naggs 6:33PM (4/24/2007)
now can someone give me a straight answer on this...
does the sx4 sedan (whatever its called) that will be for sale in the US come with AWD? i have seen several sources with differet answers, some say yes, some say no.
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Aprime 8:04PM (4/24/2007)
He's failed in Canada, why would he succeed in the US?
There's only one Suzuki in my town and it's a Swift.
I see it as much as I see some guy's (that lives not so far from my high school) Lotus Elise.
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Aprime 8:04PM (4/24/2007)
Okay, by US I meant North America, but you get my point.
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Jimbo 8:37PM (4/24/2007)
Mr Harano,
Please bring the Swift GT to the US. It would make a perfect commuter car for me.
Thanks
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ZuKi 7:59AM (4/25/2007)
Parts of the market that they have never been in? That would mean, the Nissan pick up , and what else? They have never had a sports car here or a van. Other than that what am I missing? Full size SUV? who would introduce one of those now?
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Don 11:42PM (4/24/2007)
I'm surprised about the double digit increases considering all the Daewoo crap they peddled on us.
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RyanS 10:06AM (4/25/2007)
I'm afraid the Daewoo products will hurt them in the long run. The average person doesn't do much research. They don't even know that the cars are not made by Suzuki. They look in the paper and see the low price. The go and drive it. Seems fine when you sign the dotted line and drive off. When things start going wrong then word of mouth gets around.
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Swift_Moves22 5:34PM (8/12/2007)
Suzuki has already begun dumping the GDMAT cars. That's what the new platforms coming out of Suzuki development are all about.
It doen't happen overnight though. Specially since up to now, as far as cars go, Suzuki has mainly been in Kei catagory. So as it starts producing larger cars, you will see less rebadging. The exception to that will be in catagories where Suzuki isn't ready to produce its own vehicles, such as truck. Also for the time being, Suzuki will take advantage with it's alliance with GM to co-produce V6 engines for some of its own models. In the global market, this allows more Yen to be spent in other areas while Suzuki grows and continues to do its own engine, tranny, and chassis.
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