Honda Cuts

TOKYO: Honda Motor Co said on Tuesday it would slim down its board to 12 members from the current 20 at the end of June in a bid to speed up decision-making amid rising global competition.

Japan's third-biggest automaker, led by Chief Executive Takanobu Ito, also said Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo would take up the vacant chairman post at the start of the new financial year on April 1.

In June, eight directors, including Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Hojo , will step down from the board and Managing Officer Yoshiharu Yamamoto will join, leaving 10 internal board members and an unchanged two external directors.

Former CFO Fumihiko Ike will replace Hojo in the post. Kondo will be succeeded by Senior Managing Director Akio Hamada , who hails from a manufacturing background.

In an effort to make its board more hands-on, all internal directors with the exception of the chairman will be "operating officers", meaning they will be tasked with executing business operations.

Earlier this month, the Nikkei business daily reported Toyota Motor Corp would also reduce its board to 10-15 directors from 27 to take faster decisions.