Mitsubishi Names Head of North America Unit

Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has selected its former president to help guide its Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. operation.

Hideyasu Tagaya, 57, will become chairman of the Cypress-based North American unit March 1. Rich Gilligan, 61, will remain president.

Mitsubishi’s U.S. and Canadian sales have plummeted in recent years while the parent company has been staggered by a scandal in Japan over a series of product defect coverups there.

Tagaya resigned as corporate president in January but is not associated with the company’s past problems. He was product planning director for Mitsubishi’s North American operations from 1988 to 1994.