Shuttin
g down the Swindon UK factory was not the only announcement Honda made in February 2019. They are ceasing production of Civics in Turkey, merging their motorbike production in Brazil, bringing R&D for motorbikes in-house and also making some …
“Europe is the heart of global car culture” says Takahiro Hachigo, Honda’s President since 2015. Although Honda has less than 1% market share in Europe, it competes with European car brands in its main markets of the USA and China. …
Honda has joined the small list of Japanese companies (Rakuten, Uniqlo/Fast Retailing) who are making English the common corporate language – by 2020 in Honda’s case. It announced this in its 2015 Sustainability Report – compiled according to the UN …
Read MoreHonda is not in the Boston Consulting Group’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2014, having reached #12 in previous years. Other Japanese companies include Toyota at #8, Sony, Softbank, Hitachi and Fast Retailing (Uniqlo). Other automotive companies in …
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Most of the Western media has covered the recent announcement that Takahiro Hachigo will succeed Takanobu Ito as President of Honda as an indication that Ito is taking the rap for the recent Takata airbag recall, but the Nikkei …
Honda announced on 25th March 2014 that it would be closing car plant 2 in its Swindon UK factory with a loss of 340 permanent jobs, due to slower than expected sales growth in Europe. This follows on from over …
“How Japan’s Global Brands Were Built: Lessons for Emerging Market Companies” was one of the most stimulating papers at the Association of Japanese Business Studies conference I attended in Istanbul last month. It was presented by Johny K. Johansson, Professor …
Read MoreConsolidation and integration of procurement, something that Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn has long been preaching, is taking another step forward in the Japanese auto industry by the sounds of things($), and is likely to have a knock on effect in …
Read MoreMy least favourite Japanese expression is “kusai mono ni futa” – when it stinks, put a lid on it. It is at the root of many Japanese corporate governance scandals. Mistakes are made or problems surface and instead …
Read MoreI’m afraid the answer to this question is yes, and no. Bits of Japanese companies are leaving. What will be left in the long run is some kind of UK-based training ground for Japanese companies’ star recruits to learn global …
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