Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) has appointed Takaharu Ikeda as its new president and chairman of the management board.
He will take up the new roles on 1 April 2021 having previously been vice president and executive officer, and president of the life cycle support (LS) group at Hitachi Construction Machinery in Japan. He replaces Makoto Yamazawa, who has come to the end of his tenure at HCME after five years based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Having graduated in Economics from Keio University, Tokyo in 1982, Ikeda started his career with Hitachi Construction Machinery when he joined the sales administration department.
He has worked in sales, service, rental, computer systems and supply chain management roles during his career at HCM. From 2015-18 he was executive officer of Hitachi Construction Machinery and managing director of Hitachi Construction Machinery (Shanghai). He joined the LS Group (parts, services and Remanufactured components) in 2018 after his time in China.
Ikeda says this broad base of domestic and international experience will be beneficial in his new role.
“Europe is the most advanced and competitive market in the world,” he added. “Customers’ requirements are broad and changing continuously, and should be responded to without delay. Decarbonisation, electrification, ICT machines, multi-purpose attachments and 24/7 monitoring are good examples. HCME’s authorised dealers are extremely important partners and they are facing customers every day to exceed their expectations. Listening to the voices of the customer and dealer is always the first step to provide a range of reliable solutions.”
Ikeda added that another priority is to reinforce the enviable reputation built by his predecessors at HCME, which was established as Hitachi Construction Machinery’s first overseas operation nearly 50 years ago.
“Together with HCME’s authorised dealer network and my new colleagues, I will take on this mantle and build on the foundations required for the company to become the number one solution provider. We will continue to differentiate our product through the launch of the new -7 range and service offerings with the expansion of the value chain business.”
