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Honda overhauls North American operations with eye towards more autonomy

The increasing sales success of Honda North America (HNA) has led to Honda brass in Japan reorganizing regional operations here. The management shuffling here and in Japan is intended to both streamline and confer more responsibility on HNA "as the region assumes a larger role in shaping Honda's global business," and as Honda builds more facilities that serve several roles in the product development pipeline.
Honda's executive vice president and president of HNA Tetsuo Iwamura was named COO of automotive operations, taking over a position that had been handled by company president Takanobu Ito. Iwamura's new role puts him in charge of anything Honda makes that has four wheels, which Automotive News says equates to 78 percent of the company's global revenue.
The current company CFO, Fumihiko Ike, will fill the now-vacant role of company chairman and Kohei Takeuchi will take his place. Takeuchi is presently the operating officer, general manager of the accounting division. The executive swaps take effect April 1, 2013.

NHTSA investigating 343,000 Honda Odyssey minivans

The recall bug could strike Honda again as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened another investigation concerning the Odyssey minivan. Honda has already recalled 59,000 Odysseys from the 2012 and 2013 model years due to a shift interlock issue, and another 320,000 of the minivans from 2003-04 are being investigated for faulty airbags. Now, TheDetroitBureau.com is reporting that NHTSA is taking a look at the 2007-08 Odyssey for a problem associated with the brakes.
This investigation reportedly includes 343,000 Odysseys that could be suffering from an unexpected application of the brakes. According to the article, at least 22 people have reported such an issue, and in five cases, dealers found a trouble code associated with the steering angle sensor - part of the anti-lock brake and stability control systems. There is still no indication as to whether or not this will become a recall, but Honda has already recalled more than 1.8 million units this year.

Honda thumbs nose at fleet sales, claims it leads in key vehicle segments

Fleet sales are a way of life in the automotive industry. There are many non-retail customers that need vehicles, but going too far can reduce brand image and vehicle resale value. While some of its competitors have fleet sale that account for up to 20 or 30 of overall sales, Honda is bragging that it has the lowest fleet sales of all mainstream automakers for the first five months of 2013.
After calculating new-car registration data from R.L. Polk, Honda says that just two percent of its sales through went to fleet customers compared to an industry average of 19 percent. Even though this means Honda leaves plenty of sales on the table each month, it also claims to have the highest resale value and lowest cost of ownership among its competitors. In terms of retail sales, Honda says that the Civic, Accord, CR-V and Odyssey all lead their respective segments, and it breaks down/brags about its retail sales success in the press release, which is posted below.