By Rina Ukita

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced Wednesday that executive Keisuke Kishiura will be promoted to president on April 1 and will concurrently serve as the chief operating officer, a post that will be created the same day. This marks the company's first change in president in five years. President and CEO Takao Kato will serve as chairman and CEO.

The dual leadership structure will address management challenges including sluggish sales in the key Southeast Asian market and collaboration with Honda Motor Co.

Kishiura has overseen business restructuring in Europe and served as head of the division overseeing North and South America. Since April 2025, he has led the corporate planning division, primarily managing collaborations with other companies. He will be the second consecutive president drawn from within the company, following Kato.

Mitsubishi Motors has seen declining sales in Southeast Asia due to intensifying competition from Chinese automakers, among other factors. Its interim consolidated results for the period from April to September 2025 showed a net loss of 9.2 billion yen, compared to a net profit of 37.9 billion yen in the same period a year prior. This marked the first net loss in the interim period in five years, with operating profit -- a key indicator of core business health -- falling 81% year on year.

In the United States, where the company imports all its vehicles from Japan, high tariffs are weighing heavily on operations. The company is in discussions to secure production from local factories owned by Honda and Nissan Motor Co.

Under the new structure, Kishiura, who is well versed on conditions in the United States, and Kato, who has built relationships with the top executives of both Honda and Nissan, are expected to collaborate in tackling these challenges.

Kato became president in 2021. He spearheaded cost reforms by ending production in Japan of the Pajero SUV and advancing the company's withdrawal from the Chinese market.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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January 22, 2026 21:39 ET (02:39 GMT)

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