AISIN Corporation today announced changes to its executive team in North America, effective April 1. The announcement was made by Joe Rohatynski, vice president, Corporate Communications, AISIN World Corp. of America (AWA), who outlined the following:
Kazuto Koyama will return to Japan for a new assignment as president of AISIN Shiroki Corporation. Koyama joined AWA in April 2023 as president and CEO—his second assignment in North America having previously held executive roles at AISIN USA Manufacturing in Seymour, Indiana. Koyama also holds the position of senior executive officer of AISIN Corporation in Japan and has been with the company for 40 years.
Hiromasa Okawa replaces Koyama as CEO of AWA. Okawa joined AISIN AW (now AISIN Corporation) in Japan in 1988 and has held a number of executive roles during his career at AISIN AW, AISIN Seiki and AISIN Corporation. Most recently, Okawa was chief production reformation officer and executive general manager of the AISIN Group Production division in Kariya City, Aichi, Japan. He will now relocate to Seymour to oversee AWA operations. Okawa is an engineering graduate of the University of Technology in Japan, where he studied metallurgical engineering. He also was a key executive member of the launch of AISIN North Carolina, AISIN’s first automatic transmission manufacturing plant in the United States, which was established in Durham in 1998.
Scott Turpin retires as president and COO of AWA but will remain active in his new role as executive advisor. Turpin was named AWA president in 2019 and was previously president of AISIN Drivetrain in Crothersville, Indiana. Also a managing officer of AISIN Corporation in Japan, Turpin has been with AISIN Group companies for 29 years and has been responsible for AISIN’s North American OE sales and Sales Planning division in Northville in addition to operations in Seymour. He also led the strategic planning and opening of new AISIN Aftermarket facilities in Dallas, Nashville and Panama. Before joining AISIN, Turpin was general plant manager at the BorgWarner powder metal facility in Livonia, Michigan. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University and attended the Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He also received Toyota Production Systems training in Japan. He and his wife, Beth, are the parents of two adult sons, and proud grandparents of one grandchild.
Scott Shade replaces Scott Turpin as president and COO of AWA. Shade joined AISIN in 1998 and has since held a number of management and executive positions including president and executive vice president of AISIN Drivetrain, Inc. In April 2025, Shade joined AWA as executive vice president of its Operations division and has been responsible for production control, logistics, production engineering, training center activities, carbon neutrality and production facilities support. Shade earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University and is a graduate of the Ross School of Business Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan. He also received Toyota Production Systems and other training in Japan. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, and four grandsons, and live in Brownstown, Indiana. A well-known community leader, Shade has been involved in youth athletics and is a former president and member of the local school board.
Jeff Nordman replaces Shade as executive vice president of AWA Operations. Nordman joined AISIN USA Manufacturing in 2001 and has held several management positions there including manufacturing engineer, general manager, vice president and executive vice president. In 2025, he was named vice president of AWA System Engineering. A graduate of Purdue University’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program, Nordman also received Toyota Production Systems training in Japan. He and his wife, Tiffany, reside in Columbus, Indiana, and have two daughters.
AISIN looks forward to the future of innovation under this new leadership structure. The journey ahead is full of opportunity – stay tuned for more exciting updates!