Hiroyuki Yoshino, a former president of Honda Motor Co. who steered the carmaker on its own growth strategy without seeking a partner amid an industry-wide realignment around 2000, died on April 1, the Japanese automaker said Monday. He was 82.
Yoshino served as president of Honda between 1998 and 2003, during which he oversaw development of a fuel-cell vehicle model and the Asimo humanoid robot, while rolling out the company's flagship compact model Fit, known as the Jazz in Europe.
In 1998, he received the Distinguished Service Citation Award from the U.S. Automotive Hall of Fame for his contributions toward creating vehicles that are more eco-friendly.
At the time he became president, global automakers were shifting their strategy toward seeking alliances to reap economies of scale as it was considered difficult for a company with annual production of fewer than 4 million vehicles to survive on its own.
Daimler-Benz AG and Chrysler Corp. merged in 1998, although the alliance was dissolved nine years later, and Nissan Motor Co. teamed up with Renault SA the following year.
In 1998, Honda produced 2.4 million vehicles. Yoshino, however, believed scale is not the only way to survive, sticking to an independent line.
A native of Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, Yoshino joined Honda in 1963.
