Gaku Nakanishi to head Honda Cars India

Honda Cars India has appointed Gaku Nakanishi as its new president and CEO, effective today. Two new directors have also been appointed to drive the company’s sales and marketing function.

Nakanishi, before taking charge at Honda Cars India, served as president and CEO of Honda Automobile Thailand since 2015. He has worked with Honda Motor Co for nearly 30 years and in many international markets including North America, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, CIS, Middle East and Africa.

Rajesh Goel, who has been associated with Honda Cars India for over 22 years, has been appointed senior vice-president and director (Sales and Marketing). Over the past few years, he has headed several critical functions, including purchase and quality.

During his career at Honda, he has had two overseas long-term assignments in Japan in 2001 and again in 2015. In his latest assignment, he served as general manager in charge of Purchasing Division 2 (Worldwide), in Honda Motor Co in Japan since 2015 with responsibility for powertrain and electric/ electronic components.  

Makoto Hyoda, who has been in India since April 2017, has been elevated as director (sales and marketing), from the erstwhile position of Operating Head. Hyoda has been associated with Honda Motor Co for the past 22 years and has significant experience in the fields of product planning, marketing, sales promotion and customer management.

Honda Cars India, which has seen a smart uptick in its fortunes, sold a total of 1,70,026 units in FY2018, which marks a year-on-year growth of 8.08 percent. The year has seen the Japanese carmaker increase its PV market share to 5.24 percent from 5 percent and double its UV market share to 6.56 percent from 3.17 percent.