TOKYO-- Honda Motor Co. will announce Monday the appointment of
its first foreign board member as it looks to enhance its
responsiveness to global markets, a person familiar with the matter
said.
The current 13 board members of Japan's third-largest car maker
by volume are all Japanese despite Honda's reliance on its business
abroad. Overseas markets account for more than 80% of the company's
global auto sales.
Honda is the only one of Japan's top three auto makers not to
have a foreign board member.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest car maker by volume,
last year named Mark Hogan, a former General Motors Co. executive,
as an outside director.
Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second-largest auto maker, has been
led by Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn for more than a decade.
The move comes as Honda looks to boost more aggressively it
business abroad as demand sharply increases in emerging
economies.
Write to Yoshio Takahashi at yoshio.takahashi@wsj.com
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