TOKYO: Subaru appointed Atsushi Osaki (inset) as chief executive officer and president, following Toyota Motor Corp.’s decision to overhaul its top ranks, suggesting a greater urgency among Japanese carmakers to accelerate efforts to better compete the electric-vehicle era.
Osaki, 60, will succeed Tomomi Nakamura, who oversaw a period of strong sales growth in the US and initiated the Japanese carmaker’s pivot to electrified vehicles.
Toyota, which owns 20% of Subaru, announced plans in January for new CEO Koji Sato to take over from Akio Toyoda.
Subaru, known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles, is seen playing catchup in the global automotive industry’s race to electrify.
It hasn’t set forth plans to produce EVs in the US, where new federal legislation is offering hefty subsidies to domestically made EVs.
"To change leadership during a time of such uncertainty and change will be a challenge,” Osaki said last Friday.
"It’s precisely because the future is so uncertain that it’s important for the company to move forward with conviction.”
Osaki, who had served as executive vice president in charge of manufacturing, will take on his new duties from June, the company said in a statement Friday. Nakamura will become chairman.
During Nakamura’s tenure, Subaru weathered pandemic restrictions, component shortages and persistent supply-chain issues to make record-breaking gains in US sales.
Even so, the auto manufacturer has yet to establish a footprint in the growing market there for electric cars.
Subaru and Toyota Motor Corp. developed together and now sell different versions of essentially the same EV - the Subaru Solterra and the Toyota bZ4x.
Subaru won’t be making an EV plant in the US anytime soon, Nakamura said in November, largely because it can’t afford to pay its employees as much McDonald’s Corp., which has a US$20 to US$25 minimum wage in some areas.
