Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL), leading manufacturer of premium cars in India, today announced that Mr. Katsushi Inoue has been appointed as the new President & CEO of HCIL w.e.f. April 1, 2015. As part of the other management changes, Mr. Hiroyuki Shimizu will be the new Sr. Vice President & Director, Marketing & Sales in HCIL.
Mr. Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, Managing Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. who was the Representative of Development, Purchasing and Production in Asia & Oceania since April 2013 and was stationed in India, moves to Japan after completing his tenure. He will take over as the Chief Operating Officer of the Automobile Operation at Honda Motor Co., Ltd. He is planned to be elevated to the position of Director on the Board of Directors in Honda Motor Co., Ltd. with the title of Sr. Managing Officer and Director after approval at the General Meeting of Shareholders of the company scheduled to be held in June 2015.
Mr. Katsushi Inoue takes over from Mr Hironori Kanayama who has served as HCIL President & CEO for the past 3 years since assuming this position in April 2012. Mr Inoue has been associated with Honda Motor Co., Ltd. for over 29 years and has served as General Manager in Marketing Planning office in Japan headquarters in his last assignment. He has vast experience in the automobile industry, having worked with Honda ventures in different markets, across the globe including Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, UK, Poland and Germany.
Mr. Hiroyuki Shimizu takes over from the current Sr. Vice President & Director, Marketing & Sales – Mr. Shigeru Yamazaki, who was at this position since April 2012. Mr Shimizu has been associated with Honda Motor Co., Ltd. for over 25 years and in his last assignment, he served as Director and Vice President in Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Mr Shimizu started his professional career with the company in the year 1990 and has significant experience in the field of Product Planning, Marketing and Sales. Mr Shigeru Yamazaki goes to Japan and will be responsible for Automobile Operations Business Planning in Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Mr Hironori Kanayama moves back to Japan as he retires after successfully completing his career in Honda. During the three years of Mr Kanayama’s leadership in India, HCIL witnessed rapid growth in its business. It was in his tenure that Honda forayed into the diesel segment in India with the launch of its revolutionary 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine and entered into many new segments in the market leading to increase in HCIL operating field from 10% in 2012 to the current 51%. Many successful products like Honda Amaze, Honda Mobilio and 4th Generation Honda City were launched in the Indian market during this period.
During his tenure in India, the company started assembly operations at its Tapukara Plant in Rajasthan and thus increased the production capacity to 2,40,000 units/ annum between the two plants. HCIL also witnessed significant expansion in its dealer network from 135 facilities in 83 cities (March 2012) to 232 facilities in 152 cities (March 2015) by focusing on existing & newer Tier III markets.
