本田为何要重组领导层？

    本田发生一系列质量和效益问题后，公司社长伊东孝绅被质疑在领导这家日本汽车巨头前进时是否走得过快、过猛，2009年上任的他日前公布将卸任。

    伊东孝绅的下课只是本田领导层重组的一部分。该公司将在全球范围内更换数名重要高管。61岁的伊东对记者表示：“我认为此时此刻本田应该在全球范围内提高效率、改善业绩。”

    美国是本田最重要的市场，在这一市场失去增长动力可能是该公司最头疼的问题。因此，在本次管理层调整中，本田北美公司董事长岩村哲夫将卸任，但仍将是本田董事会成员。同时，本田北美公司将不再任命新的董事长，总裁山田卓司将承担起岩村的职责。

    55岁的八乡隆弘将于6月份接替伊东孝绅，成为本田的新社长。工程师出身的八乡隆弘目前是本田中国公司研发部门高管。61岁的伊东将继续担任公司顾问。

    本田的股东和基金经理们可能在本次人事更迭中发挥了一些作用。在过去五年，本田股票的回报率已回升至27%，但仍远低于日经225指数82%的回报率。日产和丰田股票的同期回报率分别为66%和146%。

    本田北美公司曾经在美成为一种现象，树立了客户满意度的标杆。现在，该公司却以可靠、乏味、缺乏识别度的车型为人所知。正当欧美汽车厂商改进产品之际，本田相对于美国本土车企的质量优势正在缩小，甚至已经荡然无存。

    最近本田开始采取措施，以便使自己的风格和设计更加打动人心，这方面的代表就是定于今年夏天推出的跨界车——新领航员（Pilot），它将一改往日四四方方、实用至上的面貌。同时，本田还将推出新款讴歌NSX超级跑车。这是该公司宣布2015年为“本田之年”后在美国采取的一项措施，目的是彰显产品的改良和创新。

    去年10月份以来，本田已经因为质量问题五次召回次紧凑型飞度混合动力轿车，给该公司蒙上了一层阴影。此外，由于高田公司生产的安全气囊已造成六人死亡，本田召回了大量配备相关气囊的产品，并为赔偿损失预留了数亿美元资金。

    伊东孝绅曾公开承认，飞度的质量问题可能和该车型的销售目标过高有关。同时，去年本田的美国市场份额出现下降，而本国主要竞争对手丰田和日产的美国市场份额却双双上升。和丰田一样，本田已经调整了运营结构，将更多权力和责任从日本分散到世界各地的区域运营中心。

    据报道，八乡隆弘是一位经验丰富的高管，曾参与奥德赛微型客车和CR-V跨界车的开发工作，这次的新任命意味着他连跳几级，升入本田最高领导层。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    审校：Sissi

    Honda’s chief executive since 2009 is out following a series of quality and efficiency problems that called into question whether he might have been pushed the Japanese automaker too hard and fast.

    The removal of Takanobu Ito from the top post was part of a broad management shakeup, in which several key executives worldwide will be replaced in senior posts. “I felt this was the right timing for us to boost efficiency and results globally,” Ito, 61, told reporters.

    The company’s loss of momentum in the U.S., its most important market, may be its biggest headache. Accordingly, the latest shakeup includes the departure of Tetsuo Iwamura as chairman of the American Honda Motor Company. He will remain a director of Honda – but no new chairman will replace him. Instead, Takuji Yamada, president of American Honda, will assume his duties.

    Ito will be replaced in June by Takahiro Hachigo, 55, an engineer who currently serves in a senior post in Honda’s research and development arm in China. Ito, 61, will continue to serve as an adviser to the company.

    Honda shareholders and fund managers may have played a part in the change. In the past five years, Honda shares have returned 27% to holders, lagging well behind the Nikkei 225 Index, which returned 82%. Nissan shares returned 66%; Toyota shares 146%.

    American Honda, once a phenomenon in the U.S. that set standards for customer satisfaction, has become known for reliable, unexciting models that lack distinctiveness. Their lead in quality over models built by Detroit, meanwhile, has narrowed or disappeared as U.S. and European automakers have improved their offerings.

    Lately, Honda has taken steps to make their styling and design more expressive, as evidenced by a new Pilot crossover that will appear this summer. The new Pilot is a departure from its boxy, utilitarian predecessors. Honda also introduced a new Acura NSX supercar, another step in what the automaker is calling “The Year of Honda” in the U.S., in an attempt to highlight improvements and innovations.

    The automaker has been under a cloud due to quality problems with its Fit hybrid subcompact, which was recalled five times as of last October. Honda also set aside hundreds of millions of dollars to cover expected damages due to mass recalls of its cars equipped with Takata Corp. air bags that have been linked to six deaths.

    Ito has conceded publicly that quality problems with Fit may have a connection to sales targets for the model that were too aggressive. Meanwhile, Honda lost market share last year in the U.S., as its top Japanese rivals, Toyota and Nissan gained. Like Toyota, Honda has been reorganizing operations to move more authority and responsibility from Japan to regional centers around the world.

    Hachigo, described as a broadly experienced executive, jumped several levels in executive rank to his new job. He had worked on development of the Odyssey minivan and CR-V crossover.