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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.

Honda returning to F1 as McLaren partner

Honda must really love Formula One racing, as evidenced by today's announcement that the Japanese automaker is returning to the world's most popular motorsport for the fifth time in its history. Honda has entered into a team partnership with McLaren to develop and manufacture power systems - the engine and energy recovery system - for the 2015 F1 season. McLaren will be in charge of chassis development and running the day-to-day operations of this newly formed team, which will be called McLaren Honda.
Honda says its decision to reenter F1 racing had to do with new regulations for the 2014 season that require cars to be powered by a 1.6-liter direct-injection turbocharged V6 engine paired with an energy recovery system. Apparently the chance to develop this particular powertrain for F1 racing was too enticing for Honda to pass up, which suggests it has bigger plans for the knowledge learned while developing these systems beyond just winning races.
As mentioned, this is Honda's fifth foray into F1 racing, the first being back in 1964 when it participated as its own team through 1968. Its longest stint came from 1983-1992 as an engine supplier, during which time it partnered with many teams, including McLaren, and won six Constructor Championships. Honda then returned from 2000-2005 as an engine supplier for British American Racing (BAR) before buying that team outright and running it as Honda Racing from 2006-2008. Then the global economic crisis hit. Honda's return to the sport will surely be welcomed by fans as its partnership with McLaren should produce a formidable team. It's a strong signal that the company has returned to health after a few tumultuous years, and hopefully its rediscovered motorsports mojo will help yield more passionately engineered street cars.

Honda invests $470 million for new transmission plant in Mexico

Honda has announced that it has made an initial investment of $470 million to build a brand new transmission plant in Ceyala, Mexico. For those keeping track, this is the same city that will also house Honda's new automobile manufacturing facility, which will begin production of the Fit compact beginning in the spring of 2014.
This new transmission plant is expected to come online in the second half of 2015, with an annual production capacity of 350,000 units, though that number is expected to double in the years following the plant's opening. With a 700,000-unit production capacity, Honda says a full 1,500 new associates will be hired at the Mexican plant.
Honda will specifically use this new transmission plant for the production of CVTs for automobiles built in Mexico, as well as for cars produced in facilities around the world. It stands to reason, then, that since the next-generation Honda Fit will be built right around the corner from these new CVTs, the small hatchback - which is expected to grow into a full family of vehicles - could be fitted with continuously variable units in the future.