For us in India, Suzuki is synonymous with the Maruti story which is well-documented and extensively written about. It’s a saga of twists and turns, probability and intrigue, worthy of a Netflix collection. There are lots of protagonists within the story; Sanjay Gandhi, who died in an air crash; his Prime Minister mom, who needed to construct a nationwide automobile firm in his reminiscence; good IAS officers like V. Krishnamoorthy and R.C. Bhargava, who made her dream a actuality. However, the primary hero of this blockbuster must be Osamu Suzuki and essentially the most defining gamble of his lengthy profession was taking a punt on India when the market was something however sure.
In 1982, he signed a three way partnership with the Indian authorities to create Maruti Udyog Ltd, a transfer that almost all world automakers thought-about dangerous. They’d shied away from India’s closed financial system, with its nascent auto business. However Suzuki’s perception within the potential of the 800, a compact, inexpensive and environment friendly automobile for the Indian center class, proved prescient.
The Maruti 800, launched in 1983, turned an emblem of aspiration for thousands and thousands of Indians and the cornerstone of the nation’s burgeoning automotive business. At present, Maruti Suzuki dominates the Indian market, holding a market share of over 40%, and has produced over 25 million vehicles. This unprecedented success cemented Suzuki’s fame as a visionary who may see alternatives the place others solely noticed obstacles.
With the passing of Osamu Suzuki, the automotive world has misplaced considered one of its most enduring and enigmatic figures. Regardless of his ripe outdated age, Suzuki’s dying comes as a shock to many, given his seemingly perpetual presence and the indefatigable power he dropped at the corporate that bears his identify.
In his ultimate years, Suzuki misplaced the flexibility to talk and will solely talk via writing. Even that didn’t cease him from jetting between Japan and India—his routine for over 4 a long time. In reality, his final journey to India was as current as July, when he travelled to rejoice R.C. Bhargava’s ninetieth birthday. Suzuki thought-about Bhargava not only a trusted colleague, however a brother, and it was this decades-long, unshakeable bond between the 2 that has proved so vital in securing the soundness and continuity of management at Maruti-Suzuki.
Within the historical past of the automotive business, solely a choose few – legendary leaders like Henry Ford, and Ferdinand Piëch—have wielded direct or oblique management over their corporations for so long as Osamu Suzuki.
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Work, work and extra work
Suzuki outlived a lot of his high executives and the mantra for his longevity was work, work and extra work, with sips of inexperienced tea in between.
When questioned about how lengthy he meant to stick with the corporate, he would famously reply with quips like “eternally” or “till the day I die.” Suzuki additionally referred to himself as a “lifelong non-retiree”, underscoring his perception within the worth of steady work.
His passing marks the tip of an period for Suzuki Motor Corp., which he steered for 4 a long time, reworking it from a modest bike maker into a world automotive powerhouse.
Osamu Suzuki’s doggedness, willpower, and legendary concentrate on price management have been deeply rooted in his childhood. Rising up in post-war Japan, he witnessed firsthand the devastation of a shattered financial system and a society struggling to rebuild. This period of shortage and hardship instilled in him the values of frugality and resourcefulness that turned hallmarks of his management type. As an adolescent navigating a ravaged Japan, he developed the resilience and grit that may outline his character and profession.
In a uncommon interview in 2015 and presumably his final with an Indian media home, Suzuki informed Autocar India about his adolescence. “I do know what Japan was earlier than World Battle II. In these days, the freeway between Osaka and Nagoya was not paved. There have been poor individuals, too. So for me, I do know what hardship individuals have gone via, and after I see poor individuals in India, I can perceive [them].”
In reality, Suzuki mentioned he has been to India “over 200 occasions”, ranging from the time the manufacturing unit was being constructed. “I’d personally verify the concrete on my manufacturing unit flooring and every thing myself,” he mentioned. Suzuki’s hands-on working type got here from his humble beginnings with the corporate.
Suzuki’s mastery of lean operations and low-cost manufacturing turned the blueprint for fulfillment in rising and extremely price-sensitive markets like India, the place his strategy allowed his firm to win while different world giants faltered.
Osamu Suzuki, born Osamu Matsuda, started his journey at Suzuki Motor Corp. in 1958, beginning at a junior stage. When he married Shoko Suzuki, the granddaughter of the corporate’s founder, he adopted the Suzuki household identify—a observe not unusual in Japan, particularly amongst households in search of to protect their lineage in enterprise. This symbolic gesture marked the start of his lifelong affiliation with the Suzuki Motor Corp., the place he labored his approach up via the ranks, studying the intricacies of the enterprise from the bottom up on his approach to changing into president in 1978.
Suzuki’s early expertise with motorbikes, which concerned working with small, intricate elements, supplied him with a useful understanding of compact engineering. This experience laid the muse for his success within the small automobile phase, the place his consideration to element and value effectivity turned key differentiators.
“The 2-wheeler expertise positively got here in useful. Even the two-wheeler provider base got here in useful when growing the vehicles” Suzuki mentioned in his interview.
It was this grounding that enabled Suzuki to create automobiles that weren’t solely inexpensive but in addition extremely dependable—a mix that proved unbeatable within the Indian market.
Central to Suzuki’s success was his legendary concentrate on price effectivity, which was nearly an obsession with him. His mastery of lean operations and low-cost manufacturing turned the blueprint for fulfillment in rising and extremely price-sensitive markets like India, the place his strategy allowed his firm to win while different world giants faltered.
His drive to maintain lowering prices was legendary, and he had a beady eye for slicing pointless bills and eliminating frills. Suzuki famously toured factories overseeing cost-cutting campaigns and even made ideas to open holes in manufacturing unit roofs to let in pure gentle to save lots of on electrical energy or to decrease the peak of the manufacturing unit ceilings to make the air-conditioning cheaper. If he noticed the lights on in an empty assembly room, he would change them off. As soon as, after a go to to the Maruti-Suzuki HQ in Delhi, the admin staff began gathering staplers from workers’ desks. Why? As a result of Suzuki had mentioned you don’t want a couple of stapler for each 5 desks!
At an ACMA convention in 2015, element suppliers accused Suzuki of compressing them an excessive amount of on prices, which, they complained, was affecting high quality. Suzuki reacted angrily to this allegation and informed Autocar India in his interview, “Whoever mentioned that’s not match to handle any firm! The important thing to creating a small automobile is to make successful of the idea of a minimal commonplace for price and high quality. In addition to ‘Make in India’, you additionally require ‘High quality in India’ and ‘Price in India’. The one who informed you this will need to have heard about ‘Make in India’, ‘High quality in India’, however will need to have fallen asleep after I spoke about ‘Price in India’!
“Once you make small automobiles, the revenue on them can be small. The entire worth of the automobile can be much less. However that is exactly the problem one should take. If you don’t take up this problem, there are solely two choices – you both get into manufacturing larger automobiles, otherwise you manufacture a car just like the Nano.”
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Grasp strategist, tough associate
Osamu Suzuki was a grasp strategist when it got here to alliances, utilizing partnerships to propel Suzuki Motor ahead whereas fiercely defending its independence. Over time, he struck offers with automotive giants like Common Motors, Fiat, and Volkswagen, leveraging these alliances to realize entry to expertise and world markets.
Nonetheless, Suzuki’s fiercely impartial streak usually made him a tough associate. His partnership with Volkswagen, as an example, rapidly soured after disagreements over management and autonomy, culminating in a extremely publicised authorized battle that ended with Suzuki regaining its shares and strolling away unscathed. Equally, Suzuki outmanoeuvred Common Motors, ending their alliance on his phrases after extracting vital advantages. Suzuki additionally did what no automaker has ever finished – get into a giant confrontation with the Indian authorities, Suzuki’s joint-venture associate.
Within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, tensions escalated over administration management and strategic selections. The scenario reached a peak in 1997 when Suzuki accused the Indian authorities of breaching their settlement, resulting in a public dispute. Suzuki went as far as to withhold new fashions and expertise transfers to Maruti till the battle was resolved. Whereas these collaborations usually resulted in messy divorces, Suzuki’s capability to emerge stronger from each underscored his shrewdness as a negotiator.
Osamu Suzuki was a grasp strategist when it got here to alliances, utilizing partnerships to propel Suzuki Motor ahead whereas fiercely defending its independence.
In his later years, Osamu Suzuki acknowledged the modifications sweeping the automotive business with electrification and realised that collaboration and consolidation have been crucial for survival. Although fiercely impartial, he knew he needed to align with a bigger automaker and this led to a big partnership with Toyota Motor Corp., an organization with which Suzuki shared deep historic and private ties. Osamu Suzuki and the late Shoichiro Toyoda, who was honorary chairman of Toyota until his dying in 2023, shared an in depth relationship constructed on mutual respect. In reality, within the Seventies, Toyota bailed out Suzuki by offering engines to fulfill stringent new emission norms that got here into impact in a single day. It was one thing Osamu by no means forgot.
Together with his passing, there may be hypothesis about Suzuki’s future. Will it turn into one other Toyota firm?
As we’ve got seen with the current announcement of the Nissan-Honda merger, the Japanese auto business is present process large consolidation to outlive the onslaught of Chinese language competitors. Osamu Suzuki’s capability to steadiness independence and collaboration is a testomony to his shrewd management. He might be remembered as a pacesetter who defied conventions, outlived challenges, and proved that being small doesn’t preclude being mighty.
Hormazd Sorabjee is editor, Autocar India.
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