Osamu Suzuki, the former head of Suzuki Motors, passed away last week. He was 94 years old and died due to malignant lymphoma.
And while many are writing about his passing, I find it odd that so little was written about the former Suzuki Motors executive in his life. At least, I find it odd that so few things were written about him compared to other motorcycle and automotive executives, because Suzuki was a pretty interesting person who led the company to staggering new heights. Albeit far more discreetly than other companies.
While other brands expanded, contracted, delved into weird projects, and more, with Suzuki at the helm, the company really kept to its lane, at least on the outside. Think of Suzuki's tenure as being the anti-Yamaha.
Osamu-san wasn't born with the last name Suzuki, though you'd be forgiven to think he was part of the original family. Instead, he married into the family and, because the Suzuki family lacked a male heir, took his wife's last name. His wife, Shoko Suzuki, is the granddaughter of Michio Suzuki, the founder of the company.
Whereas other Japanese, American, and European automotive and motorcycle companies branched out and attempted to gain large car, truck, SUV, motorcycle and other revenue avenues throughout the world, with Suzuki running the show, the company sought to only expand its small car and motorcycle footprints in emerging markets, those with the most to gain from something inexpensive and easy to work on.
