Pitak Pruittisarikorn has been appointed as the chairman of the board of Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co Ltd effective April 1.
Pitak graduated with a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering from Kyoto University, Japan and joined Honda in 1999.
His most recent promotion was in 2014, when he became the company’s Chief Operating Officer, in charge of managing production, sales, and marketing. This was also the first time Honda appointed a Thai as a high-ranking executive.
In addition to his responsibilities for Thailand, Pitak was appointed to the Regional Operating Board for Asia and Oceania for Honda Motors Co Ltd in 2013. He is the first non-Japanese executive to hold this position over the past nine years.
According to the company statement, the appointment of Pitak as the company’s Chairman of the Board is another important step for him in shifting from direct management to overseeing the entire operation of the company, developing policies, and offering strategic advice.
“It also opens greater opportunities for the new generation of the management team to maximize their potential together (with Pitak) to drive the company and operate the business with the strength needed for today’s highly competitive and fast-changing world,” it stated.
Ovet the years, Pitak has played a crucial role in enhancing the performance of the company’s Thai executives and associates including Honda’s dealer network by blending Thai and Japanese cultures, attitudes, and processes to encourage working together harmoniously and proceeding in the same direction.
According to Honda, this strategy helped the company to overcome many challenges while making it stronger, resulting in several achievements for Honda in Thailand’s automobile industry. For instance, Honda sales made history by ranking number one in the passenger car market for the first time in 2013. The company’s sales grew steadily to achieve three consecutive years in the number one sales position from 2015 to 2017, becoming number one again in 2020. Service standards have also been improved gradually.
Pitak also served as the managing director of the Honda Khiang Khang Thai Fund (HKKT) under the Honda Thailand Foundation, which he helped set up in 2012.
