Thursday, February 5, 2015

Takanobu Ito: Honda CEO

Takanobu Ito was born in August 29, 1953 in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from Kyoto University and joined Honda in 1978 as an R&D Engineer. Takanobu rose through the ranks and held various positions of importance along the way. He has been an executive of Honda R&D since 1998 and was promoted to President and Director of Honda R&D in April 2009. Previously Takanobu had been appointed Senior Managing Director of Honda R&D in June 2001, after Director of the company in June 2000, following the position as Executive Vice President of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. since April 1998.   

By the time he was appointed to the Board in 2000 he was already well known in the automobile industry as “the engineer behind the legendary Honda NSE supercar of the 90s”.  He assumed the top post of CEO, President and Representative Director of Honda in June 2009.

Takanobu became CEO in very challenging times during the financial crisis. The year 2011 wasn’t as good either given the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. There have also been quality issues raised about Honda cars. He has been working hard in making a major transition to keep Honda among the pack leaders in the car industry. 

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