Daikin unifies US air conditioner brands
7th March 2022
USA: Daikin’s unitary, ductless and light commercial and VRV products organisation in North America has been renamed Daikin Comfort Technologies.
The change, which becomes effective from April 1, unifies its core Daikin, Goodman and Amana HVAC brands under a new top level corporate name and structure.
“We are uniting under a single name – Daikin Comfort Technologies – capturing a culture and identity that reflects one vision that will create an even stronger and more unified Daikin,” explained CEO Satoru Akama, the former CEO of Goodman Global Group.
Daikin acquired US manufacturer Goodman, with its Goodman and Amana brands, in 2012 for $3.7bn.
“Daikin, Goodman, Amana and Quietflex will remain and play an important role in our brands for products in the future,” said Takayuki “Taka” Inoue, Daikin’s chief sales and marketing officer. “Aligning our structure into a single business unit allows for collaboration, innovation, and agility internally, and very importantly, meets the needs of our customers.”
“Our operation in North America has more than doubled in revenue since the acquisition of Goodman and is now the largest of any Daikin entity in the world, making North America one of Daikin’s top priorities to invest in and grow,” explained Inoue.
Daikin Applied, the former McQuay applied systems business, remains a separate entity.
Organisational changes
Current Daikin and Goodman sales and marketing functions will be consolidated into a single business unit, led by Taka Inoue. Senior Vice President Ardee Toppe will manage all company sales of all brands and lead four US sales divisions and one in Canada. Ardee will also be responsible for company owned distribution now called Daikin Comfort Technologies Distribution, Inc., formerly known as Goodman Distribution, Inc. Senior vice president Doug Widenmann will lead all areas of marketing.
Within Daikin Comfort Technologies there is also a newly formed group, the Environmental Promotion Office, led by Nathan Walker, SVP, reporting to CEO Satoru Akama.
“We are leveraging Daikin’s leadership in environmentally friendly indoor comfort technologies, such as our inverter and heat pump solutions,” said Akama. Daikin has already introduced low global warming potential R32 products ahead of competitors and taken a leadership role in environmental stewardship. This new unit will facilitate wider usage of inverter, heat pump and R32 products throughout North America.”
