Market leader Isuzu Australia has added to its recent recruiting and staff changes announcing the appointment of its head of Isuzu Power Solutions Matt Sakhaie to the key position of head of product.
Matt Sakhaie is an experienced engineer and Isuzu Australia veteran, who started with the company 12 years ago as an applications engineering manager.
Sakhaie led the Isuzu Power Solutions (IPS) in recent times, managing new product development projects and eventually overseeing sustained business growth as the department’s head.
In his new role, Sakhaie will oversee several functions within a repositioned product portfolio, including product development, product management and production management.
T&B News. understands Sakhaie will be focussed on over the horizon product developments, while long time chief engineer, product strategy, Simon Humphreys. will continue in his key role developing current product for this market.
Director and chief operating officer Andrew Harbison said Sakhaie’s appointment was part of Isuzu’s commitment to continue to deliver the best product in the market by centralising the company’s various product-related functions.
“Matt will be overseeing a seismic shift in our approach to product management, designed to improve our ability to focus on core functions, eliminate duplication and ensure even greater capacity,” Andrew Harbison said.
“Product is certainly at the very centre of our business, and our new super-charged product department boosts our ability to develop products to meet evolving customer needs,” he continued.
“Matt has enjoyed an extremely successful tenure with the IPS team and has helped develop this side of our business exponentially.
“We’re thrilled to have him lead the transformation of our product capability, across all corners of our product, from truck to parts, IPS, mobility and more,” Harbison said.
Matt Sakhaie said he was excited by the challenges presented by his new role.
“Our customer led product management and development capabilities will be the cornerstone of the product department as it will enable Isuzu to stay ahead of the curve and provide product differentiation and value-add to customers,” he said.
“It’s clear that we already have a very strong level of knowledge within IAL. We wouldn’t be here celebrating our 34th consecutive year of truck market leadership without this.
“We are now ensuring that we can employ this deep knowledge consistently across Isuzu’s extensive product value chain.
“These changes will create improved efficiencies that flow through to our customers in the field,” Mr Sakhaie concluded.
Sakhaie holds a Master of Engineering from Iran’s Sharif University of Technology as well as an MBA in business administration and management from Victoria University.
