Jose Gonzalez and Jason Kusagaya have been named to key positions in the Aftermarket Division of Hitachi Astemo Americas Inc.
Gonzalez has been appointed aftermarket marketing manager and Kusagaya has been named product catalogue manager.
Gonzalez brings considerable automotive marketing, advertising and event-planning experience to the company and will be responsible for supporting further sales growth for Hitachi Astemo’s aftermarket product lines throughout the Americas, the company said.
Prior to joining Hitachi Astemo he was director of product management at Fox Factory in California. Gonzalez previously held management positions at Bilstein Shock Absorbers and AudaExplore. He is a native of San Diego, where he currently lives. Fluent in Spanish, he attended the Universal Technical Institute in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Kusagaya has more than 25 years of automotive sales, marketing and product planning experience and will be responsible for maintaining and expanding Hitachi Astemo’s aftermarket catalogue in more than 25 product categories, including automotive engine-management and chassis-system components, as well as motorcycle brake-, suspension- and carburetor-system parts.
Fluent in Japanese, Kusagaya most recently held positions in marketing and product management at Isuzu Commercial Truck and Denso based in California. Earlier in his career he also worked at Nissan North America, Delta Automotive and Japanese Nostalgic Car magazine. He will report to Gonzalez.