Osamu Suzuki announces retirement at age 91

-TOKYO — Suzuki's 91-year-old chairman, Osamu Suzuki, announced he will retire in June, stepping aside for a new leader to navigate the shift to electric cars and fight off competition from tech firms such as Tesla and Apple.

The chairman, after heading for more than four decades the company that his wife's grandfather founded, is leaving his son Toshihiro Suzuki, already president and CEO, to hold the reins of the company.

Osamu told reporters on Wednesday he decided to retire after the company welcomed its 100th anniversary last year and its new management plan won approval.

But he said he will "remain active" as an adviser.

"I will neither run away nor hide," the patriarch said, who has repeatedly declared in the past he will be a "lifelong non-retiree."