Kawasaki Motors names Naoki Kawaguchi as president

Kawasaki Motors has named Naoki Kawaguchi as its president, effective immediately.

Kawaguchi has a long history with Kawasaki, most recently serving as the executive vice president of 4-Wheel Business, where he oversaw continued sales growth and the launches of both the Kawasaki Teryx KRX 4 1000 and Kawasaki RIDGE side x side vehicles.

Kawaguchi started with Kawasaki 30 years ago as an engineer and has built a diverse background in a variety of roles including vice president (factory manager) at Kawasaki Motors Enterprise Co. in Thailand, various roles within marketing & sales as well as business planning divisions with Kawasaki Motors in Japan, and president of Kawasaki Motores do Brazil, all prior to coming to the United States in 2022.

After leading Kawasaki’s U.S. operations through a global pandemic and helping the company achieve record retail sales, Eigo Konya will return to Kawasaki Motors in Japan where he will serve as deputy general manager of sales & marketing, senior manager of sales planning division, and manager of accessories section.

“This is a very exciting time for Kawasaki,” Kawaguchi says. “My time dedicated to growing our 4-wheel business culminated with the successful launch of the Kawasaki RIDGE and we have big goals to continue to grow our side x side business along with building on our successful 2-wheel and Jet Ski heritage. Kawasaki is fortunate to have the best dealer network in the industry and the future is looking very bright.”