Honda CEO Revamps Carmaker That's Expanded `Beyond Our Means'
- Organizational issues risked `serious harm,' Hachigo says
- President builds management team as top executives retiring
Takahiro Hachigo.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Honda Motor Co. will overhaul vehicle development after trying to introduce models too fast and expand too quickly, with Chief Executive Officer Takahiro Hachigo reshaping the carmaker amid lingering quality problems.
Japan’s third-largest automaker was “driven to launch models optimized for each region at a pace and scale beyond our means,” Hachigo, 56, said Wednesday, after sweeping management changes including the resignation of Honda’s chairman and the CEO’s second-in-command. The automaker will shake up its product-development structure, create new positions to supervise designs and clarify roles for quality, sales and other divisions.