东京——本田汽车董事会主席表示，董事会在重大投资决策中发言权太小，受到“监控型”思维的过度限制，汽车制造商正因其在电动汽车上的高额投入而面临后果。
TOKYO -- Honda Motor's board of directors had too little say in major investment decisions, overly constrained by a "monitoring" type mentality, its board chair said, as the automaker grapples with the fallout from its costly bet on electric vehicles.
外部董事、今年六月出任董事会主席的古久保文也表示，本田的治理结构使得董事们在重大投资决策最终确定之前难以进行审查。
Fumiya Kokubu, an outside director who became chairperson of the board of directors in June, said that Honda's governance structure had made it difficult for directors to scrutinize major investment decisions before they were finalized.
古久保同时担任贸易公司丸红的执行企业顾问，他在公司周五发布的年度报告中说：“董事会很难准确评估导致投资的讨论内容。”
"It is difficult for the Board to properly assess what kind of discussions led to the investment," Kokubu, who also serves as executive corporate advisor of trading house Marubeni, said in the company's annual report published on Friday.
他的评论正值本田在本财年（截至今年3月）净亏损4239亿日元（约合26亿美元），公司因在北美需求低于预期而缩减雄心勃勃的电动汽车战略，承担了巨额费用。这是本田自1957年上市以来的首次净亏损。
His comments follow Honda's net loss of 423.9 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March this year, as the company incurred heavy charges from scaling back its ambitious EV strategy amid weaker-than-expected demand in North America. It marked its first net loss since listing in 1957.
本田于2021年改革治理结构，将更大的决策权下放给执行官员，同时设立了三个委员会，外部董事占多数，以加强监督。
Honda overhauled its governance structure in 2021, transferring greater decision-making authority to executive officers while establishing three committees, each with a majority of outside directors, to strengthen oversight.
这些变动在当年 Toshihiro Mibe 接任首席执行官并启动大规模电动汽车计划前不久宣布。
The changes were announced shortly before Toshihiro Mibe took over as chief executive that year and embarked on an ambitious push into EVs.
古久保表示，这一结构导致重大投资决策往往在决定后才提交董事会，使董事们审查背后理由的机会有限。他称公司“开始过度依赖监控型董事会”。
Kokubu said the structure meant major investment decisions were often presented to the board only after they had been made, leaving directors with limited opportunities to scrutinize the reasoning behind them. The company "began to rely too heavily on a monitoring-type Board of Directors," he said.
古久保表示，他将参加执行委员会会议，并将讨论细节分享给外部董事，以加强董事会在决策中的参与。他补充说，董事们需要“改变当前的思维方式”，以发挥更积极的作用。
Kokubu said he would attend executive council meetings and share details of their discussions with outside directors to strengthen the board's involvement in decision-making. Directors need to "change their current mindset" to serve a more active role, he added.
在Mibe的领导下，本田启动了日本汽车行业中最具雄心的电气化战略之一，试图挑战已在全球电动汽车市场占据领先地位的中国竞争对手。
Under Mibe, Honda embarked on one of the Japanese auto industry's most ambitious electrification strategies, seeking to challenge Chinese rivals that had taken the lead in the global EV market.
2024年，本田宣布计划到2030年在电气化和软件技术领域投入10万亿日元（约合630亿美元），同时设定了年产超200万辆电动汽车的目标。该公司还设定了到2040年全球逐步停止销售内燃机汽车的目标。
In 2024, Honda announced plans to spend 10 trillion yen, or $63 billion, on electrification and software technologies by 2030, while targeting annual production of more than 2 million electric vehicles. The company also set a goal of phasing out sales of combustion-engine cars globally by 2040.
然而，由于北美市场需求未达预期，本田此后缩减了其电动汽车的雄心。本田在3月份表示，将取消原计划在北美推出的三款电动汽车车型，同时其在加拿大建设完整电动汽车价值链的项目也被暂停。
But Honda has since scaled back its EV ambitions as demand in North America fell short of expectations. Honda said in March it was canceling three electric vehicle model launches planned for North America, while its project to build a comprehensive EV value chain in Canada was suspended as well.
目前，本田正将其投资重点转向在北美需求更强劲的混合动力汽车。
It is now shifting its investment focus toward hybrid vehicles, which have enjoyed stronger demand in North America.