The outgoing HCPI president Masahiko Nakamura will be succeeded by a lady

A report from Auto Industriya cites that the outgoing president of Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) Masahiko Nakamura will be retiring soon, and, that his successor will be a woman, a first for Japanese automakers here in the Philippines. 

This news comes before the start of April, the start of a new fiscal year which Japanese companies strictly adhere to instead of the calendar year preferred by Philippine companies. The start of a new fiscal year also means a change of the guard for companies, referring to company leaders who have completed their 3-year assignment in the country in particular.

Mr. Masahiko Nakamura became the president of HCPI in April 2020, which means this year, he is nearing the completion of his three-year term. In Auto Industriya’s report, however, their sources tell them that after his term has concluded, Nakamura will also likely be completing his career at Honda as well and retiring soon after. 

When Nakamura assumed the responsibility of being HCPI’s president in 2020, he had to inherit two major problems plaguing Honda at the time, the first being the fallout from the assembly-line shutdown at Laguna and the COVID-19 pandemic. When he was named president in April 2020, the Philippines was already in its second week of the lockdown by then.

Needless to say, Nakamura was not going to have an easy time during his presidency, but, he, as well as Honda, managed to say afloat during tough times. Nakamura is leaving the post with Honda in a more favorable situation.

Replacing Masahiko Nakamura as president of HCPI will be Rie Miyake, marking the very first time a Japanese company will have a lady president in the country. The Philippines has a history of great senior lady executives. Fe Perez Agudo for example successfully led Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) to become a major name in the automobile industry, and Maricar Parco led BMW’s previous local distributor while Ginia Domingo, on the other hand, was the leader of Kia’s local distributor.

Unlike other companies, however, Japanese car brands have never had a lady executive in a leadership role. With Ms. Rie Miyake taking charge at HCPI in the future, this could mean that we will see more women in top management positions in Japanese car makers here in the future.

Unfortunately, information is scarce on HCPI’s incoming president, meaning that her prior work history as well as her previous roles at Honda is a mystery. Hopefully, we’ll get to know more about her when Honda Cars Philippines Inc. formally introduces her to the public at the end of March.