Mitsubishi Chairman Osamu Masuko Abruptly Resigns

by Steph Willems

Published: August 7th, 2020

mitsubishi chairman osamu masuko abruptly resigns

A longtime presence at the top of Mitsubishi Motors departed his post Friday morning, marking the end of an era for the embattled Japanese automaker. Company Chairman Osamu Masuko, 71, resigned effective immediately today, following a six-year tenure at the top of a company he joined in 1972.

Masuko, who rose to become president of the company in 2005 and CEO in 2014, cited health reasons for his sudden departure.

He’ll stay on a special advisor, Mitsubishi said, with his former role temporarily filled by CEO Takao Kato.

“During his tenure as the president and CEO, Masuko led the company in various areas including the introduction of advanced eco conscious vehicles such as EV and PHEV, as well as the expansion of production and sales in the ASEAN region. Masuko is going to support MMC as a special advisor by fully leveraging his knowledge and experience,” the automaker said in tribute.

Masuko’s final years at Mitsubishi were marked by a crisis not of Mitsu’s making: the shock waves that rippled through the expanded alliance forged with Nissan and Renault in 2016 following the arrest of alliance boss (and Mitsubishi chairman) Carlos Ghosn in November 2018. Masuko stepped in to resume the chairman duties he vacated to Ghosn two years earlier, lending the company a measure of stability as tensions flared between Nissan and Renault.

In his own company, Mitsu’s 2017 “Drive for Growth” plan hit a snag as global volume and market share failed to achieve the goals set out at the outset of the three-year plan. Under the new leadership of Kato, and in response to both the growth plan’s partial failure and the sales-sinking pandemic, Mitsubishi changed course this year, positioning itself for a smaller future.

The new plan will see the automaker focus primarily on its home market and the growth region of Southeast Asia, reducing its investment in markets like Europe and North America. Already, the company has said it will freeze new product headed for Europe. The brand’s North American future looks dire, despite a range of refreshed 2021 product bound for these shores.

[Image: Mitsubishi]

#Executives #Leadership #Mitsubishi #OsamuMasuko

Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 8 comments

Schmitt trigger on Aug 07, 2020

RE; the photo of Masuko and Goshn. Like good Soviet Stalinist purges, appearing chummy in a photo with a disgraced leader was a quick way to end a political career. Perhaps even earn a one way ticket to a gulag.

Like Reply
Dukeisduke on Aug 10, 2020

It's fitting that Nissan partnered up with Mitsubishi, since they both now make garbage cars.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Ajla My understanding is that the 5 and 7-Series cater almost exclusively to the Chinese market and they sell them here just so they don't look weak against Mercedes and Audi.
EBFlex Interesting. We are told there is insatiable demand for EVs yet here is another major manufacturer pivoting away from EV manufacturing and going to hybrid. Did these manufacturers finally realize that the government lied to them and that consumers really don’t want EVs?
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X What's worse than a Malibu?
MaintenanceCosts The current Malibu is poorly packaged; there's far more room inside a Camry or Accord, even though the exterior footprint is similar. It doesn't have any standout attributes to balance out the poor packaging. I won't miss it. But it is regrettable that none of our US-based carmakers will be selling an ordinary sedan in their home market.
Jkross22 You can tell these companies are phoning these big sedans in. Tech isn't luxury. Hard to figure out isn't luxury.This looks terrible, there are a lot of screens, there's a lot to get used to and it's not that powerful. BMW gave up on this car along time ago. The nesting doll approach used to work when all of their cars were phenomenal. It doesn't work when there's nothing to aspire to with this brand, which is where they are today. Just had seen an A8 - prior generation before the current. What a sharp looking car. I didn't like how they drove, but they were beautifully designed. The current LS is a dog. The new A8 is ok, but the interior is a disaster, the Mercedes is peak gaudy and arguably Genesis gets closest to what these all should be, although it's no looker either.