Matsushita Picks American to Run Its U.S. Unit

Matsushita Electric Industrial, Japan’s biggest consumer electronics company, named an American to head its U.S. operations for the first time and said it hoped that the move would make the company more welcome in the United States.

Richard A. Kraft, a 15-year veteran of the company, will succeed Akiya Imura as president and chief operating officer of Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, New York.

Matsushita, which has more than 7,000 employees in the United States, sells television sets, videocassette recorders, microwave ovens and other products under the Panasonic, Quasar and Technics brand names, as well as business and industrial equipment.

Kraft said being American would make him more effective than his predecessors in dealing with American employees, government bodies and communities where Matsushita has operations.

“The American public today seems to be ambivalent about foreign companies in the United States,” Kraft said. By building Matsushita’s reputation as a good corporate citizen, he said, “We can ultimately overcome any possible friction and be welcome in this country.”

Matsushita, with $38.5 billion in annual sales, has 102 companies in 37 countries outside Japan. Thirty of the companies in 14 countries were already headed by non-Japanese, and Imura said picking an American to head the U.S. operations was a high priority for him in his two-year stint as president.