Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas Appoints New CEO, COO
Hitachi says the new CEO and chairman will lead the expansion of its rental business in North America.
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The planned retirement of two key executives at Hitachi has other executives stepping up to lead the company.
Current Hitachi executive Hidehiko Matsui will replace Al Quinn as CEO of Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas, and he has also been appointed chairman. Matsui has worked in several of Hitachi’s regions, including five years in Europe and three years as chairman and managing director of Hitachi Construction Machinery Asia and Pacific Pte. Ltd. His most recent role since 2022 was chief marketing officer, president of the global marketing group, and president of the rental and used equipment business unit.
Hitachi says Matsui will lead the expansion of the company’s rental business in North America.
Quinn joined Hitachi in 2017 after 11 years in leadership positions at Volvo Construction Equipment. He served as vice president and then managing director of Hitachi’s loaders business in the Americas before assuming the role of CEO in 2021 as the company dissolved a 33-year excavator joint venture with John Deere.
Matsui’s appointment to chairman fills a gap left by the additional retirement of Sonosuke Ishii, who became chairman in early 2022. Ishii filled many roles at Hitachi over the years, including president of Hitachi Construction Machinery Eurasia sales, president of the mining group, vice president and executive officer, and senior vice president and executive officer.
Additionally, Simon Wilson, previous vice president of construction since 2019, has been named chief operations officer at Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas and will assume Quinn’s responsibilities. Wilson brings many years of equipment industry experience to the role, having previously worked as CNH Industrial dealer Titan Machinery’s director of operations and, prior to that, spent a total of 11 years at CNH Industrial.
Hitachi said Quinn and Ishii were integral in establishing the systems and processes that made the four-year-old company’s North American rollout possible.
