Panasonic reverses stand on Indianising top deck, offers key roles to expats

New Delhi: Panasonic has rejigged its top deck in India, appointing expats from its Japanese headquarters to key roles in a reversal of a strategy initiated five years ago to bring more operations under Indian leadership.

Kazuki Sato has been named executive director at flagship entity Panasonic Life Solutions India in the most recent leadership appointment. He will be based in Gurugram. Other recent appointments include Yoshiyuki Kato as managing director and chief executive officer, and Hirokazu Kamoda, who has been heading the AC division, as deputy managing director.

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"Panasonic has been restructured as an expat-led organisation now, with the top deck being led primarily by executives from its headquarters," an executive close to the developments said.

A Panasonic Life Solutions India spokesperson, in an email response, said Sato will "focus on strengthening the company's support structure across India, laying the groundwork to enable future business expansion." The spokesperson confirmed that Kato is heading the India business and said Kamoda has been assigned additional responsibility of deputy managing director to deepen cross-functional synergy.

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The Japanese appliances and consumer electronics maker's former India chairman Manish Sharma had stepped down last November after more than a decade-long stint.

Another company veteran, Sandeep Sehgal also quit as director and head of sales at Panasonic Life Solutions India. He has since joined rival Havells India as executive vice president (sales) for its Lloyd's business.

Panasonic's India unit exited the refrigerator and washing machine segments and cut headcount by over 10% to focus only on air-conditioners mid last year, citing a global restructuring aimed at exiting loss-making businesses worldwide. Both refrigerator and washing machine businesses in India failed to keep pace with aggressive competition from Indian and Korean rivals such as Voltas, Samsung and LG.

"All operations have been downsized, and the company is undergoing natural attrition," the executive mentioned above said. "While there are no further layoffs right now, the staff strength has been reduced to about half."

The company spokesperson said the recent top-level appointments "reflect a deliberate strategy to combine strong business leadership with robust organisational support as the company pursues its long-term growth road map in the country."

It has also halved the size of its corporate headquarter in Gurugram in line with the reduction in headcount. Panasonic Life Solutions India in July this year said its residential air conditioner business grew 50% year-on-year in the summer. The company's FY25 sales stood at ₹11,500 crore, with a net profit of ₹1,100 crore.

Boston Consulting Group and the Confederation of Indian Industry estimated in a report last month that India's consumer durables market could touch sales of ₹3.25 lakh crore by year 2030, growing 8-10%, which it said was on the back of increased household incomes, easier financing, premiumisation and replacement demand. At the current pace of localisation, a large part of this projections could still be met through imports, the report said.