Takashi Nagai is moving from his position as president and CEO of Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) and “is expected” to take up a new role in Japan as president and representative director of Honda Logistics.
 
As of the beginning of April he will be replaced by Hironori Kanayama, currently the president of Honda Taiwan Motor.
 
While Honda has described the move as “part of routine top management changes” the recall of Takashi Nagai is generally seen as an unprecedented move given the relatively short time he has been working on his current assignment. An official notice concerning management changes released by Honda in February had put the planned changes in place for late June this year but the appointment of Hinonori Kanayama in April appears to bring his departure forward.
 
HSCI would not confirm that the departure was related to Honda’s disappointing 2% market share and sales performance in a country it has been present in for 14 years.
 
The company has also appointed Shigeru Yamazaki as the new senior vice president and director of sales & marketing at HSCI. This follows the departure of head of marketing, Seki Inaba, who left along with Nagai.
 
Christ de Baere, who was senior vice president distribution of ready vehicles at Volvo Logistics, has taken a new role within the Volvo Group as senior vice president Volvo Production System (VPS). The role will mean group-wide responsibilities for VPS but is organised within the Volvo Truck Operations division.
 
“After 10 years in Volvo Logistics, it was time for a new challenge. Nevertheless, the journey of 17 years in the logistic area, first within Volvo Trucks and then in Volvo Logistics, has been an extremely positive experience and I have been building a lot of knowledge and a big network in that field,” said de Baere.
 
Frits Mehrtens has left his position as marketing director, Automotive at Cobelfret agency C.Ro Ports to concentrate on his consultancy business - Frits Mehrtens Consultancy.
 
Mehrtens previously moved to C.RO from Greencat, the transport management and IT provider, where he was business development director. Prior to that he enjoyed a 20-year tenure at Broekman Automotive.
 
Mehrtens was also president of the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) for two years from 2007.
 
As reported last week, as part of the establishment of Gefco’s new joint venture with China’s Minsheng Shipping, called Shenzhen Minsheng Gefco Logistics (SGML), Christophe Poitrineau, director of the Oriental Asia and India region for Gefco, has been appointed chairman of SMGL. There has been no announcement of Poitrineau’s replacement as director of the Oriental Asia and India region.
 
Chief executive of Minsheng Shipping, Zhao Yuhang, has been named vice chairman of the new joint venture (read more about the SGML here).
 
Logwin’s chief operating officer for the Air + Ocean, Helmut Kaspers, left the company “at his own request” at the end of February. According to Logwin, Kaspers, who was also a member of the executive committee, terminated his tenure at the end of February.
 
“The Board of Directors and Executive Committee regret his decision, respect his desire for a ‘sabbatical’ and thank him for his successful service and wish him all the best and continuing success for the future,” said Berndt-Michael Winter, chairman of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.
 
A Logwin spokesperson said that Kaspers had successfully managed the business segment Air + Ocean and positioned it for further dynamic development, including the successful expansion of the seafreight and airfreight networks.
 
“He was further instrumental in establishing Logwin as one of the leading medium-sized logistics services providers,” said the company in a statement.
 
Kaspers joined the Logwin Group in 2006 as a member of the executive board of what was then Birkart Globistics Management. In 2007 he was appointed as a member of the Executive Committee of Logwin and took on his most recent responsibilities as COO for Air + Ocean.
 
 

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