Yasutake Tsuchida named design director of Mazda North American Operations

Yasutake Tsuchida has been appointed senior director of design at Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), effective immediately. He will take charge of all design operations, including next-generation vehicle planning and brand strategy development.

Tsuchida has more than 22 years of experience at Mazda’s headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan. He began his career as an exterior designer before gradually overseeing all aspects of design. He most recently served as the chief designer of the latest generation of Mazda 3, which launched in November 2018, and was also the chief designer of the Kai Concept. He also previously worked at the MNAO studio for a short stint, taking lead on the design of the Furai concept car.

The appointment of Tsuchida comes soon after Jim Lievois announced his retirement after 24 years of working at Mazda. His latest role was executive vice president of NMAO.