Honda Cars India rejigs top deck, Gaku Nakanishi takes over as president and CEO

Honda Cars India has announced new appointments at its helm of affairs. While Gaku Nakanishi has taken over its new president and CEO effective today, two new directors have been appointed to drive the sales and marketing function.

Nakanishi, before taking charge at Honda Cars India, was president and CEO of Honda Automobile Thailand since 2015. He has worked with Honda Motor Co for nearly 30 years and in many international markets including North America, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, CIS, Middle East and Africa. 

Nakanishi takes over from Yoichiro Ueno, who moves to New Business Strategy Division, Business Development Supervisory Unit in Honda Motor Co for accelerating formulation of new business strategy and pursuit of open innovation in the area of future mobility.

Rajesh Goel, who has been associated with Honda Cars India for over 22 years, has been appointed senior vice-president and director (Sales and Marketing). Over the past few years, he has headed several critical functions, including purchase and quality.

During his career at Honda, he has had two overseas long-term assignments in Japan in 2001 and again in 2015. In his latest assignment, he served as general manager in charge of Purchasing Division 2 (Worldwide), in Honda Motor Co in Japan since 2015 with responsibility for powertrain and electric/ electronic components.   

Makoto Hyoda, who has been in India since April 2017, has been elevated as director (Sales & Marketing), from the erstwhile position of Operating Head. Hyoda has been associated with Honda Motor Co for the past 22 years and has significant experience in the fields of product planning, marketing, sales promotion and customer management.

Honda Cars India, which has seen a smart uptick in its fortunes, sold a total of 170,026 units in FY2018, which marks a year-on-year growth of 8.08 percent. The year has seen the Japanese carmaker increase its PV market share to 5.24 percent from 5 percent and double its UV market share to 6.56 percent from 3.17 percent.  

The company has a slew of launches lined up, starting with the second-generation of its compact sedan, the Honda Amaze, which was showcased at the Auto Expo in February and slated for rollout  in the next couple of months. Later, it plans to introduce its premium CR-V crossover which will, for the first time, sport a diesel engine along with an automatic transmission.