Elon students on a study abroad course in Japan joined in a news conference Jan. 21 to hear the president of Suzuki Motor Corp. declare that the the humble corporate culture of the automaker won't change because of a new alliance with Volkswagen.
The 27 students attended a luncheon in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan to hear Osamu Suzuki, the 79-year-old leader of the company, explain that despite the tie-up with the larger German automaker, his workers should keep thinking of themselves as members of a small-to-mid-sized company. Reporters reminded Suzuki that the new alliance means the two companies together manufacture more autos than any other car-maker. But Suzuki, who is known here for his wit and attention to detail, repeated over the 90-minute session with reporters that his company’s 15,000 employees would be making a big mistake to imagine themselves equal to Toyota or other big outfits.
“We should not over-reach beyond our capacity,” he said. “But on the other hand, we should not be too hesitant.”
The deal linking Suzuki and Volkswagen has made international headlines in the past two months. The German company has purchased 20 percent of Suzuki stock for about $2.4 billion. The Japanese car-maker is negotiating to buy around 2.5 percent of Volkswagen shares for a little more than $1 billion. The goal of the alliance is primarily to join forces to build small cars in emerging markets such as India.
The Elon students are studying in a course titled Media & Culture in Japan taught by Yumika Araki, visiting assistant professor of Japanese, and Glenn Scott, assistant professor in the School of Communications. The professors thanked club officials for the extraordinary access to a major news session.
The moderator acknowleged the Elon group at the start of the conference, and later took a question from student Nick Friederich. He queried Suzuki on plans for car sales in Brazil, another growing market where, as Friederich noted, Volkswagen already has a successful record. Suzuki commended the informed question, as did some reporters in the audience, and said his company would hope to learn about Brazil from Volkswagen, which he termed a new mentor.
Suzuki paused and waved to the Elon students as he left at the end of the session.
The Elon study group returned to the United States Jan. 27 after 22 days in Japan.
