| Thirty-seven years after he joined DENSO International America, Mitsuo "Matt" Matsushita, the company's president and chief executive officer, has announced his retirement. Matsushita has served as CEO of DENSO International America since July 2002, and was named president and chief executive officer in July 2004. Matsushita's retirement will become effective Dec. 31, 2007. Matsushita has worked at DENSO since his graduation from Kanazawa University in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, in 1971. Prior to his U.S. assignment, he served as executive vice president of DENSO International Europe B.V., DENSO's European headquarters in Weesp, The Netherlands, from January 2000 through June 2002. During his tenure as president and CEO of DENSO International America, sales for the Americas rose from US$4.8 billion for the year ended March 31, 2002 (an irregular 15-month reporting period due to the fiscal year-end shift from December to March) to US$6.5 billion for the year ended March 31, 2007. Kenji Ohya, senior managing director and a member of the board of directors, DENSO Corporation, will replace Matsushita as president and CEO of DENSO International America. Ohya also will continue to serve as senior managing director responsible for the Sales Group of DENSO Corporation. Ohya began his career at DENSO in the Sales Department in 1972 after graduating with a bachelor's degree in Economics from Kyoto University in Kyoto prefecture, Japan. Following a series of positions in the sales group, Ohya was promoted to general manager of the Application Component Sales Department in 1994. In 2004, he was named one of DENSO's managing officers, and in June 2007 he was promoted to senior managing director responsible for the Sales Group. Throughout his tenure at DENSO, Ohya has contributed to the expansion of DENSO's business in both automotive and non-automotive products. For more information about DENSO, visit the company's Web site. |
