• IUA will increase the number of Directors based in Australia from 3 to 4 from the 1^st of April 2019.
• Mr. Hiroyasu Sato will be appointed as the new Managing Director of Isuzu UTE Australia (IUA)
• Key focus is to achieve the goal of 30,000 unit sales of Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X in 2020.
• Customer Satisfaction will continue to be key focus following the ‘Best of the Best’ and ‘Car Manufacturer of the Year’ wins in the 2018 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.

Following 10 years of continuous growth in the Australian market since inception in 2008, Isuzu UTE Australia (IUA) has announced a new Management Structure from the 1^st of April 2019 with a focus on continued growth for the next decade.

The new structure will increase the number of Directors based locally at the IUA Head Office in Brisbane, Australia from 3 to 4 and they will be led by new Managing Director, Mr. Hiroyasu Sato.

Announcing the structure change, outgoing IUA Managing Director, Mr. Hiro Kuramoto said, “Mr. Sato will bring a vast amount of knowledge to IUA following 25 years of automotive experience across various international markets which provides me with a huge amount of confidence that he will do a brilliant job in leading IUA’s future success.”

Following over 5 years abroad in Thailand and Australia, Mr. Kuramoto will return to Tokyo to take up a new position with IUA parent company Mitsubishi Corporation. He will be utilising his experience following various senior positions across China, Thailand and Australia to help develop the Isuzu Business further worldwide.

Mr. Sato’s previous international posting was in Thailand as Vice-President at Tripetch Isuzu Sales Co., Ltd, the sales arm of the world’s largest Isuzu distributor based out of Bangkok.

“Hiro and the team at IUA have done a fantastic job driving 10 years of continuous growth for Isuzu UTE in the Australian market. Now I am looking forward to working with the whole IUA team including the new team of Directors to drive continuous growth and reach the goal  of achieving 30,000 units sales of Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X in 2020,” Mr. Sato said.

Mr. Sato will lead the new Management Structure which includes existing Directors Mr. Takeshi Yasui who with drive the ever important Parts and Accessories side of the business and Mr. Koichiro Yoshida who will continue to look after Sales, Marketing and Product Planning. Plus a new Director will join IUA, Mr. Takuji Ozawa who will lead the Finance, IT, HR and Admin areas of the business.

“As a team of Directors and all IUA staff, we are focused on driving sustainable sales growth but also increasing customer satisfaction and retention,” Mr. Sato continued.

The latest research from Roy Morgan has further validated Isuzu UTE Australia’s continual drive for excellence for customers, with IUA taking out the “Best of the Best” at the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards for 2018. The ‘Best of the Best’ award goes to the company that achieved the highest customer satisfaction of all 32 winners at the 2018 Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.

Michele Levine, Chief Executive Officer, Roy Morgan says Isuzu UTE Australia has continued the dominance of Car Manufacturers with a second consecutive victory in the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ category for the Car Manufacturer of the Year following Lexus’ triumph a year ago:

“Isuzu UTE has satisfied customers on an unprecedented level in 2018 with the vehicle manufacturer achieving an average customer satisfaction rating of 96.1% during 2018 to ‘streak the field’ as Roy Morgan’s ‘Best of the Best’ at the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.” commented Michele.

IUA also took out the Automotive segment of the awards with 6 consecutive monthly wins (July – December). In fact, IUA also achieved 2^nd place from January 2018 through to May so overall IUA ranked 1^st or 2^nd in 11 of the 12 months across the year.

The new Management Structure will officially be in place from 1^st of April 2019.