Honda appointed a woman to its board for the first time and gave a major promotion to a foreigner in signs the automaker wants to change perceptions of a hidebound corporate culture.
Technology expert Hideko Kunii, 66, will join the board, and Issao Mizoguchi, a Brazilian of Japanese ancestry, who has worked with Honda's South American operations for nearly 30 years, has been appointed operating officer, Honda Motor Co said on Monday The appointments need shareholder approval at a meeting set for June. Companies have come under fire within Japan for not promoting anyone other than Japanese men. Putting women in leadership positions is a pillar of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies to revive the moribund Japanese economy.
Toyota has a foreigner on its board, American Mark Hogan, formerly of General Motors Co, but has yet to tap a woman, and it said it is not necessarily looking to promote a woman. Honda has cultivated an international image from its early years, as founder Soichiro Honda always had global acceptance as part of his vision for the company. It was the first Japanese automaker to open a vehicle assembly plant in the US. But the addition of Mizoguchi, 54, as one of the top executives at headquarters, as well as the appointment of Kunii, a professor at the Shibaura Institute of Technology, is a high profile move for the company.
Kunii studied at San Jose University and the University of Texas at Austin, and previously worked for Japanese electronics maker Ricoh Co She is now in charge of promoting gender equality at the university in Tokyo. Mizoguchi is senior vice president and director of Honda South America. Despite Abe's prodding to promote women to corporate boards, Honda is the first major Japanese company to follow that advice.
Honda officials stressed Kunii was picked because she was the right person for the job, not because of her gender. Among Japanese companies, Nissan Motor Co, allied with Renault SA of France, has been the most progressive in promoting diversity. Still, it has yet to appoint a woman to its board. Asako Hoshino, a woman and management expert, is among the top Nissan executives, serving as corporate vice president. Nissan has three non-Japanese on its 12-member board, including chief executive Carlos Ghosn.
Jnaneshwar Sen, SVP (marketing), HCIl, said the company would unveil its vehicle Mobilio, a 7-seater MPV, in next financial year and also launch third generation Jazz. Both the vehicles will be in diesel and petrol variants. Speaking at the formal inauguration ceremony, Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, Managing Offficer of Honda Motor Co ltd, said the company has an annual target of 12 lakh vehicles for the Asia oceania region by March 2017.
He informed that Honda cars india will contribute 25 per cent of the region's sales by 2017 by selling 3 lakh units per annum. Over the next few years, the Tapukara plant will become a major hub for exporting both diesel and petrol engine components and other automobile parts to Honda plants in Southeast Asia region. He said targeted export turnover for 2013-14 is about Rs 350 crore.
Hironori Kanayama, President and CEO, Honda Cars India said the company registered an impressive growth of 78 per cent in the current fiscal till January during which the company sold 101,370 units. Yasuhisa Kawamura, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan in India, said that Japanese automobile companies are investing in indian market and setting up manufacturing units. He said investment from Japanese companies into Indian market grew seven times since 2008.