Quality has been a big selling point for Honda cars for 30 years, and now persistent quality issues have done in top management at the company, which also has replaced its Formula 1 engine program chief. Honda Motor Company announced in Tokyo Tuesday the retirement of 10 top managers. Just last June, Takahiro Hachigo succeeded Takanobu Ito as president amidst Takata airbag inflator safety problems.
Tetsuo Iwamura, left, and Takanobu Ito, right.
Among the changes, Seiji Kuraishi, currently a Honda managing officer in China, replaces Tetsuo Iwamura as executive vice president, executive officer and representative director, essentially Hachigo’s right-hand man, pending rubber-stamping by the company’s board in June. The chief of the Chinese joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Company, Asako Suzuki, becomes Honda’s first female operating officer, Bloomberg reports.
In the U.S., Toshiaki Mikoshiba, chief of European operations, replaces Fumihiko Ike as chairman of North American operations, Automotive News reports. Takuji Yamada also is retiring as a top North America executive.
The executive appointed to restructure research & development for Honda just last year, Koichi Fukuo, also is retiring. This follows a stop-sale order on 2016 Honda Civics with redesigned 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engines, following reports that the engines may fail as a result of improperly installed piston rings. That issue strikes a deep blow to Honda’s launch of one of its most important models, the new Civic, which is seen as a major design and engineering leap forward after the tepidly received 2011-2015 model. Fukuo’s replacement is Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, currently chief operating officer for auto operations.
Honda also announced the retirement of its Formula 1 engine program chief, Yasuhisa Arai, who will be replaced by Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, current chief of Honda’s automotive business. Matsumoto also takes on the responsibility of senior managing officer and director for Honda Motor Company from Koichi Fukuo.
Arai has told Motorsport.com that he is forced into retirement because he is about to turn 60 years old, a compulsory age for his position.
The announcement of his replacement by Matsumoto, at the same time as other management reshuffling, makes sense from a public relations point of view, though it doesn’t make sense in terms of timing. Formula 1 began testing for the 2016 season in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday. Such personnel changes are typically announced in the off-season. While McLaren Honda struggled just to make it out of the first qualifying sessions of last years races, Jenson Button on Monday managed the sixth-fastest practice time at Barcelona Monday, though with one of just three cars using soft tires, and still 1.796-seconds off of Ferrari pilot Sebastian Vettel’s leading pace.
