Osamu Suzuki who revolutionised India’s car market with Maruti 800 no more

Osamu Suzuki, who headed Suzuki Motor Corp for more than 40 years and revolutionised India’s car market with the introduction of the popular Maruti 800 small car, has died at the age of 94.

Suzuki died of lymphoma on December 25, the company said in a statement.

A former bank employee, Osamu Suzuki got his break in the automotive business after his marriage to Shoko Suzuki, granddaughter of Michio Suzuki, who founded Suzuki Motor’s predecessor company in 1909. Osamu Suzuki took his wife’s surname, in accordance with the Japanese custom when there are no male heirs.

His entry into India turned out to be a game-changer as the subcontinent-sized market, saddled with the mid-60s technology Ambassador and Fiat cars, drove up demand for the Maruti 800 small car. The waiting lists of customers stretched for as long as up to three years with the car selling at a premium in the second-hand market.

Suzuki Motor agreed to set up a venture with the Indian government outside New Delhi and acquired a 26 per cent stake in the state-owned carmaker Maruti Udyog in 1982. In December 1983, the venture rolled out the Maruti 800 small car which was an instant hit.

Maruti, now a unit of Suzuki Motor, quickly became the biggest car manufacturer in India and still commands more than 40 per cent share of the market.

Suzuki today is also one of the top global manufacturers of motorcycles, selling around 1.9 million units in the 12 months ended March 31.

Osamu Suzuki’s more than 28 years as president made him the longest-serving head of a global automaker. After stepping down as president in 2000, he became Suzuki Motor’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He came back as president at age 78 in December 2008, when Suzuki Motor was expecting its first profit decline in eight years amid the global recession to lead from the front.

Suzuki then passed on the presidency to his son in June 2015 and took over as Chairman and CEO, but then resigned as CEO over an embarrassing fuel-economy misstatement. The company admitted to using unapproved methods to test the fuel mileage of its vehicles in Japan which hit the company’s reputation, triggering a sell-off of shares.

Suzuki was a man of spartan habits and was known to fly economy class even during his old age as part of his frugal lifestyle.

Osamu Suzuki ceded his title as CEO and accepted a 40 per cent pay cut but remained Chairman, a title he held until 2021, just as the advent of electric cars started to roil the world’s legacy automakers in earnest.