Akinori (Andy) Atarashi has been named president of Daikin AC (Americas) Inc. Daikin AC offers North America air-conditioning and heating solutions for residential and commercial applications. The company, which opened in November of 2005, is a subsidiary of Daikin Holdings (USA) Inc., which is owned by the Japanese-based Daikin Industries Ltd. The company’s systems fall under the Daikin Altherma, Quaternity, VRV, VRV-WII, VRV-S, and SkyAir product names.
Atarashi joined the Daikin Group in 1992. He worked at the Global Operations Division in the internal sales and marketing department until 1997, serving in sales at Keiji, a Japanese domestic sales subsidiary in Kyoto, Japan. 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 heat pump models, increasing market share up to 40 percent. He also worked on a team that continuously recorded the highest sales and helped the division become five times more profitable within 7 years.
Atarashi will take over the role of president from Yoshinobu Inoue, who announced his retirement earlier this year.