Suzuki has become the latest automaker to be ensnared by what’s fast becoming a global epidemic of automakers falsifying their environmental credentials. The Japanese company admitted last month that it used the wrong standard to test its vehicles for fuel consumption on over 2 million vehicles. Now two of its top executives are stepping down from key leadership roles.
Chief among them is Osamu Suzuki, the man who has run the company since 1978, making him one of the longest-serving top executives in the industry. Now 86 years old, Osamu Suzuki will step down as chief executive officer, but retain his role as chairman of the company that bares his name – which he adopted after marrying into the family. No replacement has been named to take him place as CEO.
Along with the boss, one of his top lieutenants is stepping down as well. Osamu Honda has served until now as Executive Vice President, but is scheduled to retire at the end of the month after the shareholders meet on June 29. The remaining members of the board of directors are also waving their bonuses and taking a pay cut for the next several months.
Suzuki withdrew from the new car market in the US four years ago, but it still sells motorcycles, ATS, marine engines, and other products in North America, and remains one of largest automakers in Japan thanks in no small part to the strength of its Kei-class city cars.
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