In senior management changes, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday appointed Tsutsumu Otani as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. He is also a Vice President at Honda Motor Company, Japan.
He is replacing Atsushi Ogata, who after spearheading Honda’s Indian two-wheeler operations for three years, returns to Shanghai, China with effect from April 1, 2023, as the Executive General Manager at Shanghai Branch, Honda Motor (China) Investment Co Ltd, the company said in a statement.
Otani started his career with Honda Japan in 1997 and 2001, he served in Motorcycle Section, responsible for Europe. In 2005, he joined Honda Italy Industriale S.P.A for five years. In 2010, he was responsible for South America from Japan HQ, later in 2011 he moved to Honda Motor Argentina, and further in 2013, he shifted to Honda South America Ltd.
In 2015, he returned to Japan as Manager of the Motorcycle Business Division and in 2016, Otani moved to the Sales Planning section of the same division. From 2017 to 2022, he was designated as the President of Sundiro Honda Motorcycle Co Ltd. Last year, Otani was also appointed as Executive General Manager, Shanghai Branch of Honda Motor (China) Investment Co Ltd.
Rejig of senior leadership team
Entering its 23rd year of Indian operations, HMSI has also further strengthened its senior leadership team to strategically steward the brand towards market leadership in the disruptive future.
- As part of this move, Vinay Dhingra (earlier Director-General & Corporate Affairs, Strategic Information System and Honda India Foundation, HMSI) is now further elevated as the Senior Director-Human Resource & Administration, Corporate Affairs, Information Technology and Honda India Foundation.
- Additionally, Yogesh Mathur (previously Operating Officer-Sales and Marketing) and Sanjeev Jain (earlier Operating Officer-New Model Purchase & Parts Strategy) are now elevated to the Board of Directors of HMSI, the company said. Mathur as the new Director will be responsible for customer service, logistics planning and control, premium motorcycle business along with sales and marketing.
- And, Jain as the new Director, will be responsible for Purchase. He will be replacing V Sridhar who was Senior Director Purchase and has retired from the company after completing over 23 years of association with HMSI, the company added.
Last week, HMSI said its new factory at Narsapura (Karnataka) will produce one million (10 lakh) electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. Earlier, in January, the company said it is closer to launch its first electric scooter in March 2024.