Suzuki
Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. (SMIPL), announced the appointment of Satoshi Uchida
as the new company head. As a part of the SMC’s global revamp, Satoshi Uchida
succeeded Koichiro Hirao with effect from May 1, 2021.
Satoshi
Uchida comes with more than 30 years of valuable experience across various
global markets. He will be responsible to explore new avenues for growth and
further strengthen Suzuki Motorcycle India’s position in the Indian market.
Across the various two-wheeler markets worldwide, Uchida has always been known
for his leadership skills, business strategy and above all for the passion and
commitment towards brand of Suzuki Motorcycle.
He
said, "I am delighted to join Suzuki Motorcycle India again after a gap of
just two years of my earlier assignment here in India. This company has always
been very close to my heart. In fact, India is one of the largest manufacturers
of two wheelers in the world. For us at Suzuki, it offers immense opportunities
for growth and it will be my endeavor once again to further consolidate our
base here in India.
“As
our global operations experienced a paradigm shift in the aftermath of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Suzuki Motorcycle India has also been taking various
initiatives to align with the `New Normal’. The launch of our on-line sales
module and the `Suzuki at your Doorstep’ programme have been our successful
efforts in that direction. However, unfortunately with the second COVID-19
wave, the pandemic in India is now getting worse than what we saw last year.
But we believe that our business in India will bounce back faster than
expected, and I will be able to fully leverage our past experience of the
Indian market once the situation gets better”.
“Today,
we manufacture or assemble the entire Suzuki two wheeler product portfolio
available in the Indian market. Our Gurugram plant makes all these products to
cater not only to the domestic demand, but also to cater to the demand of our
overseas markets. I would like further strengthen our commitment to the Make in
India programme in our efforts towards gaining a much higher market share in
the premium segment”, he added.
Satoshi
Uchida is well aware of the Indian market. He has worked at Suzuki Motorcycle
India and Deputy Executive General Manager- Motorcycle Operations
(India/Middle-East/Africa) at Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan in the past. In
his last role, he was assigned in USA.