Mitsubishi President to Resign in Wake of 20-Year Cover-Up

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. President Katsuhiko Kawasoe plans to resign to take responsibility for a 20-year cover-up of customer complaints that led to the recall of 1 million vehicles, a company official said.

Kawasoe, who has led Japan’s fourth-largest auto maker since 1997, will be replaced by Vice President Takashi Sonobe, said the official, who asked not to be further identified. Sonobe declined to comment. Attempts to reach Kawasoe were unsuccessful.

The change in leadership is an attempt to help Mitsubishi regain the trust of consumers shaken by the auto maker’s admission that it withheld complaints about its cars and trucks from Japan’s Transport Ministry for more than two decades. The scandal has also caused DaimlerChrysler to seek a bigger equity stake in Mitsubishi as part of an alliance announced in March.

Kawasoe joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., currently the auto maker’s biggest shareholder, almost 40 years ago. He has held various posts including vice president of Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America. He became president in November 1997.

Sonobe, appointed to Mitsubishi Motors’ board in June 1999, currently oversees Mitsubishi’s North American sales unit.