Honda has announced that Toshihiro Mibe, currently the company’s R&D chief, will succeed Takahiro Hachigo as chief executive.
Mibe is scheduled to become Director, President and Representative Executive Officer (CEO) with the resolution of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held in June 2021, at which time Hachigo will retire from the company.
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Mibe, 59, who is set to assume the presidency in April, joined Honda in 1987 and has been primarily focused on the research & development of automobiles, particularly powertrain development. In 2019, Mibe became the President and Representative Director of Honda R&D Co., Ltd., and since 2020, Mibe has been concurrently serving as Senior Managing Director of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Toshihiro Mibe said he wants to “further accelerate our ‘preparation for future growth’ and start putting our plans into action. In other words, I am now going to construct a ‘building,’ which is the future of Honda, on the foundation of existing businesses that Mr. Hachigo solidified. And this building must have a resilience that can withstand this period of this ‘once in a hundred years’ transformation.”
Mibe aIso said that Honda must continue to change and that alliances could be explored in the future. “In order for Honda to continue to be a company people want to exist in the midst of turbulent times, all of Honda must undergo a major change and act with speed,” he said. “For the early realization of the new value Honda envisions, if necessary, we will consider utilization of external expertise and explore possible alliances, and I will make such decisions and take action without hesitation.”
