Mitsubishi’s Recchia May Step Down

Richard Recchia, the outspoken automotive executive who established Mitsubishi Motors in the United States 16 years ago, is expected to step down this week as chief operating officer of the company’s Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. import and distribution arm.

Officials at Mitsubishi headquarters in Cypress would not comment except to say that an announcement of management changes is expected Thursday.

But it is no secret that for nearly a year, Recchia, 58, has been grooming a successor--Pierre Gagnon, 42, hired by Recchia in March.

Gagnon, who came from General Motors Corp.’s Saturn division, revamped Mitsubishi Motor Sales’ management practices and instituted an unusual consensus system that demands decisions be made by unanimous approval.

Industry consultant George Peterson, of AutoPacific Group in Santa Ana, said Recchia is following an established route in Japanese companies.

“When the successor is ready to move into place, they generally give the ‘gray hair’ a new position of importance, sort of a general manager emeritus post.”

Recchia became chief spokesman for Asian auto companies in the U.S. in the early 1990s when trade tensions were high and the domestic auto industry was lobbying Congress for import restraints on Japanese cars. He is expected to become liaison between Mitsubishi’s separate sales and manufacturing operations in the U.S.

Gagnon’s consensus system recently received its first big test when Mitsubishi screened candidates for its $60-million regional dealer association advertising program. The company publicly announced that it intended to retain a single agency to handle all the advertising for 40 dealer groups, but the 14-member screening panel could not reach agreement.

Company officials said Gagnon’s system means that a decision cannot be made if even one member of the management group says no. “It’s exhausting and can be frustrating, but it results in decisions that everyone supports,” one company insider said.

Mitsubishi subsequently picked two finalists for the ad business and told them to slug it out in pitches to each dealer group.

Recchia and Gagnon were attending the company’s annual dealer meeting in Florida and could not be reached for comment.