Michio Suzuki

Michio Suzuki (10 February 1887–1982), Japanese inventor, entrepreneur and Suzuki founder, was born in Hamamatsu. Trained as a carpenter, he designed a wooden pedal-powered loom in 1909, aged twenty-two — a complex textile-weaving machine. He began making looms in a small rented warehouse. As sales grew, the business became widely known in 1920 as Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company.

Exports to Southeast Asia and India began in 1926. During Japan’s wartime era, Suzuki produced ammunition.

In 1952, it introduced its first “moped”, a normal bicycle fitted with a 36 cc two-stroke engine. Motorcycles soon generated most profits, and two years later the company became Suzuki Kabushikigaisha, Suzuki Motor Company.

Its first car, the Suzulight, appeared in 1955. Motorcycle exports to America started in 1963, and the first Suzuki cars were sold there in 1985. Suzuki personally obtained over a hundred patents, contributed to car development from the first generation and remained president until the mid-1950s.