At a two-day gathering for Honda's suppliers in March, Chief Executive Takahiro Hachigo sounded the alarm.
At the Hotel Higashinihon in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Hachigo told them the automaker was facing a crisis after a string of costly recalls and other quality blunders and needed to plot a new course, according to two people who attended the meeting.
Since then, Hachigo has been quietly working on reforms to centralize decision-making by bringing Honda's standalone research and development division in-house and cutting some senior management roles, according to three Honda insiders.