Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) has promoted Matt Sakhaie to Chief of Product following a strategic push to elevate its all-new vehicle range for 2025.
Sakhaie first joined IAL in 2010 and has accrued extensive experience over many areas of the business. He has previously worked for Isuzu’s broader engineering division, helmed the off-highway Isuzu Power Solutions team, and even recently handled the brand-wide portfolio.
Sakhaie now leads IAL’s expanding Product division which includes product development and homologation (ensuring vehicles are road worthy), as well as in-house second stage manufacturing, all handled onsite at IAL’s Melbourne-based Product Development Centre (PDC) and Isuzu Production Centre (IPC).
IAL Director and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Harbison spoke to Sakhaie’s ability to oversee this massive production operation.
“We deliver a huge range of truck models and variants to a diverse range of customers across light, medium and heavy-duty requirements,” he said.
“It’s a massive task, and one that we expect to become increasingly more complex in the coming years. In this respect, Matt’s experience of the industry and IAL’s business is invaluable, and his promotion reflects this.”
Isuzu’s new product range may represent a big change in the company for Sakhaie, but the philosophy of catering to customer needs is still the same.
“Isuzu has embraced the future of change with a commitment to supply a product range which offers operators compelling features and functionality including advanced safety systems, smarter and more efficient powertrains and ergonomic enhancements,” he said.
“We are also proactively working with our parent company, Isuzu Motors Japan, in the market development of fuel-agnostic powertrain platforms including battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV).”
To address and comply with increasingly complex customer and regulatory requirements, IAL has recently enhanced the product team, with changes including the appointment of Product Managers, each responsible for the lifecycle management of specific model ranges.
“This level of ‘pinnacle knowledge’ ensures that our portfolio of products continues to meet our customers’ needs and we maintain a superior solution offering compared to our competitors,” said Sakhaie.
“Whether it is navigating the complexity of advanced technologies or the changing landscape of compliance and regulations, IAL will be confidently at the forefront, providing the very best approach for our customers.”
In other news, Isuzu Trucks has promoted its service agreements and customer care program following new reports that anticipate the number of trucks on Australian roads to reach record levels.