Japanese automaker Subaru has announced its first leadership change in five years. The firm is reorganizing to strengthen its hand in the shift to electric vehicles.
Subaru says Executive Vice President Osaki Atsushi will be the new President and CEO from June.
"I'm honored and feel great responsibility to be taking over from president Nakamura at a time when the auto industry is in a very unpredictable and chaotic period of great transformation," Osaki said in a press conference on Friday.
Osaki is 60 years old. He joined the company as an engineer and worked on engine designs. After an inspection data scandal in 2017, he led the internal effort to prevent a recurrence.
Current President and CEO Nakamura Tomomi will become Director and Chairman without representation.
Subaru is planning to construct a new factory dedicated to EV manufacturing in Gunma Prefecture near Tokyo hoping to have it operational as early as 2027.