This was a huge deal for Ricardo Perez.
ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has taken effective control of Ricardo Pérez S.A. (hereinafter “RPSA”), which is an exclusive distributor for the Toyota and Lexus in Panama and currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Corporativo Pérez S.A. (headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama; Rolando Pérez Martinis, Chairman; hereinafter “GCP”), by acquiring 70% of the shares owned by GCP.
Since becoming a distributor for Toyota cars in 1956, RPSA has been steadily building trust among customers and maintaining the top position for more than 20 years in the Panamanian market for new cars.
ITOCHU has been operating automobile distributors and dealerships in many countries around the world since the 1970s. By leveraging this experience, it will seek to further popularize the Toyota and Lexus brand and enhance its value in Panama, while at the same time gaining support from Toyota Motor Corporation. RPSA expects that it will be able to create synergies and expand into new business areas by working with ITOCHU, a new shareholder that conducts a wide range of businesses, globally.
In addition, with the automobile industry on the verge of undergoing a significant structural change, ITOCHU will seek to promote businesses pertaining to areas covered by the CASE concept (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electric) and build new businesses that contribute to the environment and society, not to mention the operation and expansion of the ongoing dealer business.
Many industries are in the midst of a major revolution, also referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, attributable to rapid progress in new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. ITOCHU will continue to respond to these changes in an agile fashion, and build business models based on the application of next-generation technologies, such as the establishment of traffic congestion mitigation systems and reuse schemes for used batteries of hybrid vehicles. Through these initiatives, it will facilitate further evolutions in the automobile industry, thereby contributing to the development of Panama as well.