MANILA, Philippines - Suzuki Philippines, Incorporated president Suzuki Uchida came to the Philippines by way of Spain. Given the Hispanic heritage of the Philippines, Uchida brings a remarkable perspective as a Japanese executive who first imbibes Spanish culture before taking the helm of Suzuki Philippines.
Now on his first year as president, Uchida has emphasized and supported the importance of his people having a happy family life, and rightly so. He highlights the importance of empowering Suzuki employees to be able to take care of their families. This perspective on corporate leadership does speak well of an understanding of the Filipinos’ devotion and attachment to family. This point of view must have come from his academic background which was law and politics and his dream as a student to help people as a lawyer.
Now, Uchida aims to spread the happiness to Suzuki customers. Suzuki has a long history in the Philippines and it is a history of taking care of customers. Suzuki is always happy and willing to serve the customer. As for the future, Uchida says Filipinos should watch out for more exciting things from Suzuki.
Please tell us about the road you have taken on your way to the Philippines.
I was assigned six years in France and then another six years in Spain. In Spain, we had a motorcycle factory and I was into manufacturing while in France Suzuki has a distributor and I handled marketing for our automobiles, motorcycles and marine engines. That is 12 years in Europe before I got assigned back to Japan where I was in charge of the Asian market. Then suddenly I got assigned to the Philippines. I arrived in the Philippines in October 2008 and worked on a four-month transition planning.
Can you give us a short background of Suzuki Philippines?
Recently, we celebrated our 25th anniversary but this is twenty five years after we took over and the company became one hundred percent share Suzuki. But Suzuki motorcycles started the business in the Philippines in 1958 or 1959, that is more than 50 years. Then we introduced cars around ten years ago.
How did the idea of introducing Suzuki cars to the Philippine market come about?
At the beginning customers have a certain income level that makes motorcycle affordable. Then there is the shift to a bigger bike or a high-end motorcycle. And then eventually the customers can afford automobiles. This is a trend that is the same in all countries.
Can you tell me about the position of Suzuki in the global market?
Last year, we sold almost 2.5 million automobiles and 3.5 million motorcycles worldwide. These are still very successful numbers in terms of the global financial market. Suzuki is doing very well because we are very strong in the Asian market like India and China.
What can you say about Suzuki and the Philippine market in particular?
We experienced a ten to fifteen percent growth in 2009 despite the financial crisis and the natural calamities like typhoon Ondoy. And so we hope to double that in the coming year. We got a one hundred percent increase in January 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
What do you think is the identity of the Suzuki brand to the Filipinos?
Definitely, they think great motorcycles. But now they are also aware of how good the Suzuki compact cars and vans are. Filipinos know that Suzuki is durable. But this time I want to add to that perception or upgrade that by introducing the high-end models. We already brought in the Celerio and it is doing well because it looks good, has futuristic design and lower emissions. We want Filipinos to recognize the image of Suzuki as cool, fashionable but very kind to the environment. Our Celerio can do 34 kilometers to a liter which is very, very fuel efficient, almost like a motorcycle.
When you came on board last year, what was your mission?
It is very simple, we should be the top motor company in the Philippines. And we plan to achieve that in ten years. As president I want to set the targets very high so we will exceed our best accomplishments. This is also to motivate all Suzuki employees to reach higher. Now we have an alliance with Volkswagen. Considering Volkswagen sold 6.3 million cars worldwide and Suzuki sold 2.5 million units, combined that is close to 9 million which is bigger than that of the number one car brand. With the alliance of Volkswagen and Suzuki, we could develop new automobiles, invest more and increase our sales and market share. Another point is that Suzuki is very strong in the compact vehicle segment and high fuel efficiency automobiles. We can more easily adapt to the worldwide trend. For Suzuki Philippines, we aim to double up our 2008 sales for both automobiles and motorcycles in 2011. In addition we now have 20 car dealerships, we should double that number as well.
What are the hurdles you think you have to overcome?
We have lots of competition both in motorcycle and automobiles. We must emphasize our advantage as a strong brand in the compact vehicle segment. We must motivate our employees and encourage our dealers.
What is your leadership style?
I trust in my employees and dealers. I listen to their opinions. My idea is always to be close to the retail market and so I keep close to the customer and dealer. I always listen to the market’s opinion.
What is the legacy you wish to leave Suzuki Philippines?
I wish our employees are happy and that their families are happy. When employees are happy, the company will do very well. Keeping our employees and protecting them is a corporate social responsibility for Suzuki Philippines. We do our best for our people not to lose their jobs. And we aim to employ more people.
What was your impression of the Philippines when you first arrived?
Of course, I read a lot about the Philippines before coming here. And eventually I learned that there are many similarities with Spanish mentality and culture like the Catholic culture and some words are the same. I found it easy to adapt and understand the culture. After one year here, I discovered the potential of the Filipino and the country. The workers in our factories are very skilled. There should be more emphasis to industry because the Filipinos are very skilled.
Tell us about your family.
I have a wife and a 14 year-old daughter. My daughter loves halo-halo which was introduced to her by her teacher. She now makes her own different kinds of halo-halo.
What do you aim for in the next several years as Suzuki Philippines president?
I want to do something that has never been done before. I want to do more special projects. I want to do new and creative things.