Noriyuki Inoue
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined the company in March 1957 and became General Manager of the Personnel Department in September 1975. He became a Director in February 1979, Managing Director in February 1985 and Senior Managing Director in June 1989, reaching the presidency 37 years after joining. Neither from the founding family nor from the Sumitomo group, he reached the top purely through internal promotion.
Selection
In June 1994 he succeeded Minoru Yamada as president, a change that followed 23 years of presidents from the founding family. In the fiscal year ended March 1994, the year before he took office, net sales were ¥296.4 billion, down two years in a row from ¥368.1 billion in FY ended March 1992. Net income fell from ¥12.9 billion to ¥3.95 billion over the same two years. From May 1995 he also served as chairman.
Initiatives
In 1995 the company entered China through a joint venture with a Shanghai sewing machine maker. Carrier of the U.S. had already secured joint ventures with local air conditioner makers, so the company avoided the residential market, crowded with more than 400 makers, and focused on commercial units for government offices and businesses. When residential air conditioners fell deep into the red in 1997, he decided to keep producing all units for the Japanese market domestically. From 1998 the company built a sales network in Europe by buying out local distributors. Even after moving to Chairman and CEO in June 2002, he remained among those deciding the acquisition of Goodman of the U.S. and the 2024 change of president.
Career
Career
Daikin Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Mar 1957 | Joined |
| Sep 1975 | General Manager, Human Resources Department |
| Feb 1979 | Director |
| Feb 1985 | Managing Director |
| Jun 1989 | Senior Managing Director |
| Jun 1994 | Representative Director, President |
| May 1995 | Representative Director, Chairman and President |
| 2001 | Stepped down as President |
| Jun 2002 | Representative Director, Chairman and CEO |
| Jun 2014 | Chairman and Group Representative, Executive Officer, Global |