Honda Motor president and chief executive officer, Hiroyuki Yoshino, is stepping down, as Japan’s No. 2 car company faces signs of a slowdown in two important markets, the US and Japan, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
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Citing Honda, the WSJ said Takeo Fukui, a senior managing director in charge of the company’s research and development, will succeed Yoshino.
The WSJ said people in the industry had widely expected the move, because Yoshino, 63, had been chief executive for almost five years.
The 58-year-old Fukui, who was seen as the most likely candidate as successor, takes over Honda at an increasingly challenging time, the WSJ noted.
The paper said the all-important US market, where Honda makes most of its profits, is slowing, hurt by the war in Iraq and the sluggish economy.
In Japan, Honda is facing increasing competition from Toyota and a revitalised Nissan which are launching new popular models, the Wall Street Journal said.
