
07.16.03
Takeo Fukui President and Chief Executive Officer -- Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Takeo Fukui became the sixth president of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
in
June 2003. He brings to the challenge a wealth of experience in
R&D and manufacturing for Honda's three major product
lines -
motorcycles, automobiles and power products - together with
extensive
global experience as the leader of Honda's worldwide racing
activities and the company's largest overseas manufacturing
complex.
Fukui's more than 33-year career with Honda has included
positions
as President of Honda R&D Co., Ltd. and head of Honda's
global
motorsports activities, and President of Honda of America Mfg.,
Inc.,
(HAM) in Marysville, Ohio in the mid-90s. Fukui also has served
on
Honda Motor Co.'s board of directors since June 1988.
Educated as a chemical engineer at Waseda University,
Fukui's
senior thesis was an analysis of nitrogen oxides (NO2) -
possibly the
first NO2 study in Japan. Joining Honda in 1969, Fukui was
quickly
assigned to the team of engineers seeking to meet the
challenging
exhaust emissions standards of the U.S. Clean Air Act. Rather
than
employ a catalytic converter to clean the exhaust like other
automakers, the Honda team created the cleaner burning Honda
CVCC
(Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine - that made
the Honda
Civic the first car to meet the U.S. Clean Air Act standard.
In 1978, Fukui moved to the Honda R&D Asaka Center
and then to
the Honda Racing Corp. in 1982, where he devoted almost a
decade to
Honda's motorcycle racing activities - during this time Honda
won its
first World Grand Prix motorcycle championship in 1983. Fukui
advanced to a succession of positions, culminating in 1987,
when he
became president of Honda Racing.
After 19 years with Honda R&D, Fukui was appointed to
the
Board of Directors of Honda Motor Co. in 1988. Later, as Senior
Managing Director of Honda R&D, Fukui also assumed the
entire
responsibility for the motorcycle development from 1987 to
1992.
In 1992, Fukui left R&D to become General Manager of
the
Hamamatsu Factory - a diverse production facility with
responsibility
for the manufacture of motorcycles, power products and auto
transmissions. In 1994, Fukui moved to the U.S. as Executive
Vice
President of HAM in Ohio, a major production base that includes
four
different plants. Fukui advanced to the position of President of
HAM
in 1996, overseeing the company as its production volume
expanded
significantly - including the first Acura model built in North
America - to meet increasing customer demand in the U.S.
In 1998, Fukui returned to Japan as President of Honda
R&D,
his current post, and was promoted to Senior Managing Director
of
Honda Motor Co. in 1999 with the additional responsibility for
Honda's motorsports activities, including Formula One Grand
Prix
racing.
Fukui's tenure as president of Honda R&D included
important
advancements toward meeting both the environmental and
safety
challenges - including the commercial launch of the world's first
government certified fuel cell electric vehicles and the opening of
Honda's omni-directional crash test safety facility - the largest
facility of its kind in the world. |