[csimo]

As most of you know I have NOT been a fan of Ito. I feel he has run Honda into the ground. There have been two coup attempts to remove him from office and he resisted both of them.

MAJOR NEWS: The coup is completed and Ito has been ousted!!!! The 'advisory group' stepped in and replaced him with Takahiro Hachigo. We'll have to see where it goes from here. I don't know much about Hachigo, but I hope many will very happy that Ito is gone. I know I am!!

 

[csimo]

Make no mistake... Ito is there as a figurehead only because the changes can't be official until the meeting in June. In just last two weeks Ito said he was staying at least the next 2 years. The 'advisory group' (retired past executives) intervened a couple of weeks ago and suggested that Ito step aside. It is customary for the requests of the advisory board be taken very seriously, and Ito's refusal to step down was a major power play on his part.

Yesterday, the advisory group stepped in again, and within hours they Honda quickly put together a press conference and Ito made the announcement. The way the company works nothing can be official until the shareholder meeting in late June, but Ito's powers are gone.

No, I don't know a lot about any of the people involved. It's interesting that they skipped Ito's right hand man and named Hachigo to take over. He's the head of R&D in China. So a lot of people were overlooked and I think that can be considered "cleaning house" if you know what I mean.

Tetsuo Iwamura will also "step down". He's the chairman of American Honda Motor Co. Takuji Yamada will take over Iwamura's duties.

A lot of other top level changes. I don't know a lot about any of them, but will put out some feelers and see what others have to say. In my opinion anything that gets Ito and his bunch out is a good thing!

 

[csimo]

I first got word of this about 2AM today. The person that contacted me was very happy. I've chatted with a few other people, and all I can say is that everyone seems to think these changes are positive and getting certain values reinstated. Sounds good to me.

I'm not mentioning ANY names of anyone, but of the few negative remarks about one of those now in charge will have to change. The company is very embarrassed about their current quality image and I believe that will prevent the negative tendencies of that person to change.

Yes, I'm being evasive. Too much on the line here. I'll put it in another way. I was never at or near the top of the ladder in the auto industry, but I was sent to many places to fix problems. One of the first things I did was to get everyone's attention by making some personnel changes (fire people). It works. So right now you have a new 'regime' coming into power and many are wondering if they're part of the future.

For example, in this case the meeting to make the changes came on very short notice, the press was caught off guard and have very little information to go on, and as far as I can tell Honda has not even issued a PR about these changes. I find that very odd.

Anyway, from what I can piece together nobody is safe, and everything is up for review. Please don't read anything into that because nobody knows anything right now.

Many know that I didn't like Ito from the start, and I said he would run Honda into the ground, but in all fairness he was hit with some very serious issues that were not his fault.

I just hope that Honda can do something to stop the bleeding and then start heading back into the right direction. The powers to be know the North American market much better than Ito did, and I hope they know it well enough to speak openly and tell everyone that Honda is refocusing on their core values and one of those values is to build the best quality cars in the world.

 

[csimo]

If you want a perfect example of the conflicting directions at Honda/Acura just watch this video. Things are very much in a state of flux. I don't pretend to understand Japanese corporate culture, but apparently the expected retirement age is 60 years old. Ito ignored that, and then a further attempt to oust him. It took the 'advisory group' to first hint then insist last night that he step down.

The 'Asia editor' seems conflicted on the issue as well.

I'll set the record straight. Honda and Acura have some of the best engineers in the world who CHOSE to work at Honda pre-Ito for far less money than they could get elsewhere. Their frustration levels remind me of my personal Chrysler days. Some have left. To insult those fine people with "tunnel vision" is a damned good reason to send him packing.

Ito and a few others will join the advisory board. Unofficial, but still with great power to remove mistakes like Ito.

Don't be fooled by all the June dates. That's just when the shareholder meeting makes the changes official. Ito has no power today along with the others on the way out. June is a technicality.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150223/VIDEO/302239925/autonews-now-is-acura-too-american