Mitsubishi Motors said its next chairman, Yoichiro Okazaki, would hold a news conference on Friday following an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on the same day.
Reuters reported that Okazaki, currently managing director at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., has been leading the troubled Japanese carmaker’s new revival team after DaimlerChrysler AG pulled out of a bail-out plan last week.
Okazaki reportedly heads a team of about 40, consisting mainly of top officials at Mitsubishi Motors, and some working-level staff from its three main shareholders in the Mitsubishi group, Mitsubishi Heavy, Mitsubishi Corp. and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
After DaimlerChrysler abandoned plans to participate in a capital increase scheme for Mitsubishi Motors, the Mitsubishi group said it would support the automaker, aiming to finalize a new revival plan within a month, Reuters said.
The plan reportedly would look at all of the carmaker’s operations, including product development, manufacturing, overseas operations and financial policy, while reviewing its alliance with DaimlerChrysler, which still holds a 37% stake.
Reuters noted that Daimler veteran Rolf Eckrodt resigned as president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors on Monday to make way for the new team – CFO Keiichiro Hashimoto will act as interim president until a permanent replacement is found.
DaimlerChrysler has said it would not be nominating a new head from its group, but will go ahead with plans to send Eckhard Cordes, who heads its commercial vehicles division, as a non-executive board member, Reuters added.
