SOUTHFIELD, MI -- DENSO has announced that Mitsuo "Matt" Matsushita, president and chief executive officer of DENSO International America, DENSO's North American headquarters, and managing officer of DENSO Corporation, will retire from the company, effective Dec. 31. Matsushita has served as president and chief operating officer of DENSO International America since July 2002, and was named president and chief executive officer in July 2004.

Matsushita has worked at DENSO for nearly 37 years, since he graduated from Kanazawa University in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan in 1971. Prior to his U.S. assignment, he served as executive vice president of DENSO International Europe B.V., DENSO's European headquarters in Weesp, The Netherlands, from January 2000 through June 2002.

During his tenure as president and CEO of DENSO International America, sales for the Americas rose from $4.8 billion in 2002 to $6.5 billion this year.

Kenji Ohya, senior managing director and a member of DENSO’s board of directors, will replace Matsushita as president and CEO of DENSO International America. Ohya also will continue to serve as senior managing director responsible for the sales group of DENSO Corp. Ohya began his career at DENSO in the sales department in 1972 after graduating with a bachelor's degree in Economics from Kyoto University in Kyoto prefecture, Japan.

Following a series of positions in the sales group, Ohya was promoted to general manager of the Application Component Sales Department in 1994. In 2004, he was named one of DENSO's managing officers, and in June 2007 he was promoted to senior managing director responsible for the sales group. Throughout his tenure at DENSO, Ohya has contributed to the expansion of DENSO's business in both automotive and non-automotive products.

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