Akinori (Andy) Atarashi has been named president of Daikin AC (Americas), Inc.

Akinori "Andy" Atarashi

Atarashi will be responsible for sales growth and expansion. Atarashi will take over the role of president from Mr. Yoshinobu Inoue who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Atarashi joined the Daikin Group in 1992. He worked at the global operations division in the internal sales and marketing department until 1997, when he served in sales at Keiji, a Japanese domestic sales subsidiary in Kyoto. In 1999, he moved to Daikin Australia Pty. Ltd. where his job responsibilities increased to include sales and corporate planning management.

More recently, Atarashi worked at Daikin Air Conditioning (Singapore) Pty. Ltd. as a managing director. During his tenure in Australia, Atarashi managed the planning, design and production of two successful heat pump models, increasing market share up to 40%. He also worked on a team that continuously recorded the highest sales and helped the division become five times more profitable in just 7 years.