Isuzu Malaysia Appoints Kenji Matsuoka As CEO, Confirms MU-X SUV

Isuzu Malaysia announced today that Kenji Matsuoka will be appointed as CEO effective 20-April. He will be taking over from Kimitoshi Kurokawa, who will be returning to Isuzu Motors Limited, Japan to oversee a wide network of markets that includes the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Middle East, Latin Americas, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Prior to his appointment in Isuzu Malaysia, Matsuoka was the CEO at Isuzu-Hicom Malaysia (IHM) since 2012. Before that, he spent four years Isuzu Vietnam Co Ltd., serving as CEO. Matsuoka graduated from Mie University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering.

In a statement released by Isuzu Malaysia, Matsuoka said he hopes to achieve a 20 percent market share for the Isuzu D-Max pick-up trucks in the medium term.

“Our customers have come to realize that our core product qualities of durability, reliability and fuel efficiency offered them reduced running costs without sacrificing performance or dependability. In times like these when everyone is trying to stretch their Ringgit, Isuzu vehicles offer customers with a genuine motoring solutions,” said Matsuoka.

Elaborating further on Isuzu's push to further improve customer satisfaction, Matsuoka said “Without strong back-end support for our customers, we would not be able to sustain a consistent growth for the brand. Therefore, much of our attention will be focused on improving the quality of our after-sales experiences by strengthening our dealer operations and improving spare parts availability through the establishment of a new parts depot in Johor.”

MU-X Coming Soon                                                                         

Matsuoka also confirmed market speculations that the MU-X, a seven-seater SUV model based on the D-Max pick-up truck, will be launched in Malaysia soon.

The MU-X will compete against Ford's upcoming all-new Everest, Toyota's Fortuner and Mitsubishi's Pajero Sport.