Michael Richardson who recently quit as the General Manager of Sharp’s appliance business in Australia has been appointed as national account’s manager at Japanese appliance Company Hitachi Australia.
Gaurav Sethi, General Manager at Hitachi Australia told ChannelNews “Michael is an experienced industry executive who brings a wealth of knowledge to Hitachi”.
“During the past year we have added additional staff due to our growth including additional account managers in both NSW and Victoria. The appointment of Michael to the team adds another layer of management skill to a growing team”.
Richardson the former Vice President of Sales at Samsung Australia, will spearhead a move by Hitachi to expand their range of products in Australia.
During the past year Hitachi has seen an expansion of their product range in Australia with Harvey Norman now ranging their premium refrigerators which have been a top seller at stores such as Bing Lee in the past.
Well known in the industry Richardson who was previously working at Sydney based distributor Tempo who picked up the Sharp appliance business last year, is seen as a key appointment at an appliance business that recently launched a new range of air purifiers and is tipped to launch additional products later this year.
Last year Hitachi Ltd sold a 60% stake in its overseas home appliance business to Turkish consumer electronics maker Arcelik AS for$300 million.
The move has seen Arcelik the owner of the Beko appliance brand and Hitachi GLS form a new company that Arcelik will control to run operations in the home appliances market including Australia.
According to Sethi the Australian operation has witnessed growth because they have concentrated on delivering “quality appliances” for Australian consumers.
“With an Hitachi refrigerator it’s all about the preservation of food inside the fridge as well as advanced storage technology” he said.
“During COVID lockdowns we have experienced growth as consumers invest in quality home appliances”. He said.
