OREANDA-NEWS. Honda today announced changes in its North American executive ranks, effective April 1, 2016, including the appointment of Toshiaki Mikoshiba as president and CEO of Honda North America, Inc. (HNA), COO of North American Regional Operations and president & CEO of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM).

Mikoshiba is currently president of Honda Motor Europe Ltd. and COO of Europe Regional Operations.

Mikoshiba will replace Takuji Yamada who will continue to hold the title of Senior Managing Officer of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., (HMC) until his retirement.

In addition, the following executive changes, among others, are effective April 1, 2016:

Tsutomu Morimoto will become president of Honda of Canada Mfg. (HCM).  He is currently Senior Vice President at HCM and will replace current HCM President Dan Smith.

Gary Mabrey will become president of Honda of South Carolina (HSC). He is currently Senior Vice President at HSC and will replace current HSC President Brian Newman.

Honda established operations in America in 1959 and now employs more than 40,000 associates in its North American sales, R&D and manufacturing operations with total capital investment in North America exceeding $22 billion. Based on its longstanding commitment to "build products close to the customer," Honda operates 18 major manufacturing facilities in North America producing a wide range of Honda and Acura automobiles, automobile engines and transmissions, Honda all-terrain vehicles, power equipment products, such as lawn mowers, mini-tillers and general purpose engines, and the HondaJet advanced light jet. Honda also operates 14 major research and development centers in the U.S. with the capacity to fully design, develop and engineer many of the products Honda produces in North America.

Toshiaki Mikoshiba

Effective April 1, 2016, Toshiaki Mikoshiba will become president and CEO of Honda North America, Inc. (HNA), COO of North American Regional Operations and president & CEO of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM).

Since 2014, Mikoshiba has held the position of COO of Europe Regional Operations and president of Honda Motor Europe Ltd.  He is also a senior managing officer of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

From 2011 to 2014, Mikoshiba held the position of president of Guangqi Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. in China.

From 2009 to 2011, he held the position of president and director of Honda Motor Russia, LLC., with responsibility for all of Honda's operations in Russia.

In 2008, his first stint in Europe,  Mikoshiba held the position of executive vice president and director of Honda Motor Europe, Ltd. where he was responsible for East Europe, the Middle and Near East and Africa.

Mikoshiba's career with Honda Motor Co., Ltd., began in 1980.

Prior to 2008, he held positions in Japan as general manager of automobile sales, automobile marketing and regional sales operations. He also previously served in the U.S. from 1992-1997 in American Honda's Product Planning department where he worked on both the Honda and Acura brands.

Takuji Yamada

Takuji Yamada is currently president & CEO of Honda North America, Inc. (HNA), president & CEO of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM), and COO of North American Regional Operations, positions he assumed on April 1, 2014. Yamada has also served as a managing  officer of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., since 2012.

From 2012 through March 2014, Yamada held the position of executive vice president of American Honda, with operational responsibility for all American Honda businesses, as well as a director of Honda North America and American Honda.

From 2008 to 2012, Yamada held the position of chief operating officer of Power Product Operations at Honda Motor Co., Ltd., where he oversaw Honda's global power product operations.

From 2006 to 2008, he held the position of president, Honda Motor Europe (North) GmbH, overseeing the company's operations in Germany.

Between 2002 and 2006, Yamada held a series of positions at American Honda, his second assignment in the U.S., which culminated in him being named executive vice president, Automobile Operations/Export Sales Division in July 2005.

Yamada's career with Honda Motor Co., Ltd., began in 1980.

Tsutomu Morimoto
Effective April 1, 2016, Tsutomu Morimoto will become president of Honda of Canada Mfg. (HCM).  He is currently Senior Vice President at HCM

Morimoto has been employed in the Honda organization since 1984, where he started his career at the Saitama Factory on the paint production line. He worked in a variety of positions at Saitama until he accepted an assignment at HCM from 1997 to 2003 as an assistant manager of the Paint Department at Plant 2.

Morimoto returned to the Saitama factory in Japan in 2004 and held a number of positions with increasing responsibility including plant manager of the frame assembly plant.

Morimoto returned to HCM in 2013 as vice president and plant manager, where he oversaw all aspects of Plant 1 assembly production.

He is a graduate of Matsue College of Technology in Japan with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Gary Mabrey

Effective April 1, 2016, Gary Mabrey will become president of Honda of South Carolina (HSC).
Mabrey is currently Senior Vice President at HSC and will replace current HSC President Brian Newman.

Currently, Mabrey serves as a member of the Honda of South Carolina Operations Committee, the senior management team that supports the company's operations.

Since starting his Honda career in 1989, Mabrey has gained extensive experience in purchasing at both Honda of America Mfg., and Honda Manufacturing of Indiana. This experience includes: supplier parts ordering and delivery management, supplier selection and sourcing strategies, as well as activities to support new model launches.

In 1999, while serving as Purchasing Manager Mabrey led a team that managed local supplier parts maturation and development for new models.

In addition to his experience in purchasing, in 2012, Mabrey was named Manufacturing Division Manager at Honda's Indiana Plant.

A native of Ohio, Mabrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Logistics and Production Operation Management from Ohio State University.