February 23, 2009 - Honda Motor Company, Tokyo Japan

Honda Names New Chief Executive

Takanobu Ito, 55, an engineer with American experience, will succeed Takeo Fukui as part of a wider management reshuffle, Honda announced.

Honda Names New Chief Executive

The president and chief executive of Honda Motor Company, Japan’s second-largest automaker, will step down in June, making way for a younger leadership amid a dramatic slowdown in global car sales, the company announced Monday.

Takanobu Ito, 55, an engineer with American experience, will succeed Takeo Fukui as part of a wider management reshuffle, Honda announced. Mr. Fukui, 64, will remain as an adviser.

Like other carmakers, Honda has been battered by a global slump in sales. The company’s profit plunged 90 percent in the October-December quarter as car and motorcycle sales slumped and a strengthening yen also eroded profits.

Still, Honda has fared somewhat better than its Japanese rival, the Toyota Motor Corporation, in part because of its focus on smaller, cheaper cars like the Accord sedan. It has also moved quickly to address the global downturn, pulling the plug on is popular Formula 1 racing team and cutting production in Japan and North America.

Though Honda is likely to post its first loss in at least 15 years this quarter, it expects to eke out an $856 million profit for the year ended March 31.

Mr. Ito had been widely seen as a likely candidate for the top job at Honda. The appointment coincides with a change at Toyota, which recently named Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, to take the helm.

Mr. Fukui oversaw Honda’s push into the American market. He supervised Honda’s entry into the small jet market and started the Insight hybrid.

Mr. Ito, who joined Honda in 1978, began his career developing sports cars. He served as vice president at Honda R&D Americas, where he brought Honda’s first sport utility vehicle under the Acura brand to market.

Original Story - New York Times