GLOBAL SUZUKI

Top Message

Embodying the founding principle of “focusing on the customer,” we will aim to be an infrastructure company closely connected with people’s lives

Based on the foundation of “focusing on the customer”

For the first time in 61 years, we have revised our Mission Statement. Previously, the first point in our Mission Statement used the word “consumer,” but we have revised the wording in response to a suggestion from within the Company that “customer” would be more appropriate.
In formulating our Growth Strategy for FY2030 announced in January 2023, we revisited our Mission Statement, the founding principle of the Company. The Company’s founder Michio Suzuki made a loom by hand in order to make his mother’s work easier. Word of the loom’s reputation spread throughout the neighborhood, and many people asked to have it. Suzuki continued making improvements to the loom by incorporating direct feedback from his customers and paying close attention to them. This was truly the origin of creating valuable products “focusing on the customer.” If we develop products just for self-satisfaction, the products will not be useful to customers. We believe that a valuable product is one that makes customers say things like, “This is just what I was looking for.” We hope that this revision to the Mission Statement will provide an opportunity for each and every employee to reflect on what makes a valuable product by keeping the customer in mind.
As an organization grows larger, it tends to become more distant from its customers. Sales and customer service representatives receive direct feedback from customers, but in order for that feedback to be reflected in products, it must be properly delivered to the actual design and development departments. Osamu Suzuki, our advisor, always spoke of “Entrepreneurial Spirit.” In a small organization, people can connect with each other, see each other’s faces, and practice “Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi (Smaller, Fewer, Lighter, Shorter, Beauty)” through quick decision-making. In large organizations, however, there is distance between management and frontline employees, which tends to cause poor communication leading to misunderstandings. Preserving the kind of flexibility that small- and medium-sized companies have, which allows for close proximity between people and the accurate and quick communication that speeds up decision-making, I will go to each of our departments and communicate with employees who work there in accordance with “visiting the actual place, seeing the actual thing, and understanding the actual situation.”

Representative Director and President
Toshihiro Suzuki

Supporting rich and fulfilling lives

Our goal is to be a company dedicated to enriching people’s lives. We have contributed to the economic development of the countries and regions in which we operate by expanding our industrial base through production, sales, procurement, and development. We recognize that staying closely attuned to people’s lives and providing a means of mobility for local communities is our ongoing mission. We also need to pursue product development with a clear view of what our customers really want, without clinging to past successes. In our efforts toward electrification to achieve carbon neutrality, we will not simply provide electric vehicles (EVs) to replace gasoline-powered vehicles but rather develop environmentally friendly mobility utilizing the structure and characteristics of compact cars, which are our area of expertise. In addition to solving environmental problems, we also aim to be a company that continues to pursue what is useful for each individual’s life, such as by thoroughly investigating how EVs are used today and encouraging people to use them as a source of energy supporting a part of their daily lives.

A growth strategy to provide clear direction

We formulated our Growth Strategy for FY2030 in order to map out our ideal future and show the direction the Company as a whole will take to approach challenges. Until then, we had not been able to present our direction to our employees in such a way, so I feel that this was a major turning point for me. The sales target of ¥7 trillion is double that of the ¥3.5 trillion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, and while this is not an easy endeavor, we can accomplish it through perseverance. To achieve this target, it is important that our employees share the same target and incorporate it into their own individual work, accurately grasp how the times are changing and what our customers are looking for, and communicate with each other to collaborate within the Company. Even in the last six months, I have felt the small individual efforts of employees contributing to a larger movement towards change. We will continue to make steps toward the realization of our growth strategy by constantly moving forward to “create a dynamic Team Suzuki that can assess the condition in these turbulent times, take action, and initiate activities.”

Aiming to develop and contribute to Indian society

We are also taking on the challenge of biogas business to realize a carbon neutral society and develop rural areas in India. This involves the production and supply of biogas derived from cow dung, which is dairy waste that can be seen mainly in India’s rural area, and the solids and liquids generated in the biogas refining process are used as organic fertilizer. This biogas produced from cow dung can be used to fuel CNG vehicles. We also expect that the use of cow dung as a raw material will provide a new source of income for farmers and contribute to the development of local agriculture. Beyond these efforts, we are also considering supplying biogas throughout India and constructing a power plant.
We concluded a three-party agreement between the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and one of the largest dairy manufacturers in Asia to establish four biogas production plants in the state of Gujarat and are making steady progress on this project. We will continue to develop our business not only in pursuit of profit but also in consideration of how much we can contribute to India’s development.

Aiming to enhance human capital and strengthen governance

A company consists of individuals, so it is essential to enhance our human capital. We must never forget this starting point when we pursue manufacturing: to meet the expectations of our customers and make them fans of Suzuki. Each and every employee of the Group is highly capable, and I believe that our organizational strength will be maximized if employees think about what skills and abilities they should have and approach their work with a sense of purpose, and if the Company provides education to further enhance each employee’s capability. In addition, Indian personnel excel in the field of software development, and we will further strengthen these global human resources and deepen our internal and external relationships.
To strengthen governance and compliance, we are promoting Remember 5.18 activities after deep reflection on past issues such as misconduct regarding fuel efficiency and final inspections. Specifically, having grasped the purpose and background of the relevant laws and internal regulations and thoroughly visualized how they connect to each individual’s work, we foster an environment that encourages employees to report problems themselves under the slogan “Don’t turn away, don’t hide, don’t lie.” Throughout this process, I am once again reminded that our business might not have come this far if we had experienced only successes along the way. A company is a living organism constantly faced with various problems. Cultivating the ability to think about what is right and what should be done is turning what was previously a weakness into a strength. Of course, misconduct must never be tolerated, but I believe our efforts to revise operations through trial and error in the Remember 5.18 activities are commendable, and we will continue to work on these activities in the future.

Aiming to be a lifestyle infrastructure company closely connected with people

I believe our strength is that we have developed our business of manufacturing with an unwavering commitment to “Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi (Smaller, Fewer, Lighter, Shorter, Beauty)” in a timely manner enabled by “Entrepreneurial Spirit” and in accordance with “Three Actuals” — visiting the actual place, seeing the actual thing and understanding the actual situation. These three aspects of the Philosophy of Conduct are Suzuki’s strengths, and we must firmly uphold and continue to refine them as principles to never lose sight of.
We are currently “a mobility company that supports people’s daily lives,” but in the future we aim to become “an infrastructure company closely connected with people’s lives.” We are determined to continue our activities to help develop local communities and grow together with them.
We hope that our stakeholders will watch our activities closely, become fans of Suzuki, and hold high expectations for Suzuki’s future.

REPORT INDEX

ESG INDEX