Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) said Osamu Masuko resigned today as chairman of the board and representative executive officer due to health reasons.
Takao Kato, member of the board and representative executive officer, and chief executive officer, will temporarily cover the duties of the chairman.
Masuko remains a special advisor.
Masuko became president in 2005. During his tenure as the president and CEO, he headed the company in various areas including the introduction of advanced eco conscious vehicles such as EV and PHEV, as well as the expansion of production and sales in the ASEAN region.
He also had to deal with the fallout from earlier recall scandals and one on his watch over wrongly stated fuel economy figures.
The automaker recently announced a three year, mid term business plan (from fiscal 2020 to 2022), 'Small but Beautiful', to concentrate its management resources on its core regions and technologies. It is ending new model launches in Europe but will continue to offer parts and service.
The plan is based on structural reforms to significantly reduce fixed costs by production capacity optimisation, the regional strategy as well as the product/technology strategies. Under this initiative, MMC will concentrate its management resources on the ASEAN region, where it is competitive. Also, MMC will expand its profitability by further enhancement of its technology such as PHEV, HEV and 4WD, also by introduction of new models leveraging the Alliance partners' technology.
