Thus, Gary Akin, vice president of sales within American Suzuki Motor Corp. has given up his position, Autonews has learned. The news was made public by spokesman Jeff Holland who added that his duties will be assumed by Koichi Suzuki, 45, recently appointed as vice president in charge of automotive operations.
As a matter of fact, Koichi Suzuki came back to American Suzuki from Japan last month (January 28, to be more specific) in the position of executive vice president in charge of automotive operations. He has led the Suzuki division in the United States through April 2007, but he had to return to Japan afterwards where he was responsible or North American marketing. But now he will have to handle two tasks at the same time.
As for Gary Akin, age 50, he was appointed vice president of sales in March, 2007. Before joining Suzuki, he worked for Volkswagen America where he led western region operations.
It is said that a captain never abandons his ship but when it comes to Suzuki, we can only say that the Japanese car manufacturer is already used with surprises of this kind. That's exactly what happened last summer with Rick Suzuki, head of American Suzuki for a decade, who decided to step aside due to poor sales and operating losses. He was replaced by Kinji (Kevin) Saito, who had been deputy executive general manager of global marketing for Suzuki Motor Corp. in Japan.
Now the question is: do these guys think top positions are all roses? We know it's nice to be in the management board when all goes well but the real challenge is to prove your competences when the company badly needs you.
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