American Suzuki Appoints Kenneth Nishida Western Regional General Manager

Industry Veteran Will Call Upon His Years as Retail Sales Manager to Strengthen the Suzuki Brand in 13 Western States

BREA, Calif., Feb. 14 -- To strengthen the expansion of the Suzuki automotive brand throughout the Western U.S., a region already experiencing record sales growth, American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) has promoted Kenneth Nishida, formerly ASMC's retail brand image manager for two years, to the role of western regional general manager.

In this position, Nishida will oversee sales, service and parts for American Suzuki's 13-state Western Region, which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Western Texas, Utah, Wyoming and Washington. Nishida will directly report to Koichi Suzuki, president of Automotive Operations.

Nishida will work closely with the Region's marketing, service and parts operations, and be responsible for developing new Suzuki business and ensuring that Suzuki's 114 Western dealers are actively engaged in the Suzuki franchise. In this role, Nishida will act as the liaison between the Region's dealerships and ASMC corporate headquarters, located in Brea, Calif.

"Ken brings to this position tremendous automotive industry experience and a successful track record developing Suzuki's retail brand image in the United States," explained Koichi Suzuki. "Under his leadership, nearly two-thirds of the U.S. Suzuki dealers have adopted the Suzuki Square Program, a key factor contributing to the company's recent sales growth."

Nishida has held a wide range of management positions throughout his nearly 16 years in the automotive industry. Prior to joining ASMC in 2003, Nishida completed regional, national and international assignments at Nissan North America. He was the director of sales and marketing at the Hawaii subsidiary of Nissan, where he handled the launch and implementation of Nissan's dealership and signage program. While stationed in Tokyo, Nishida was the primary marketing liaison between North America and Nissan's world headquarters.

Ken is a resident of Fullerton where he lives with his wife and two children.

About American Suzuki

The Automotive Operations of American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC), Brea, Calif., was founded in 1985 by Suzuki Motor Corporation. ASMC markets its vehicles in the United States through a network of more than 540 automotive dealerships in 49 states. ASMC's parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide automobile manufacturer with sales of over two million new vehicles annually. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, it has operations in 125 countries. For media information and photos visit www.media.suzuki.com or Suzuki's consumer site, www.suzukiauto.com.