When Honda Motor Co. set out to develop a turbocharged SUV for the American market, the senior bosses in Tokyo didn't tap a Japanese engineer for the project. They turned to Gary Evert, a veteran of Honda's Ohio operations, and brought him to Japan for two years to oversee the development of the Acura RDX.
This is the second time Honda has put an American in charge of a vehicle program, underscoring the growing importance Japan's automakers are placing on their U.S. operations and executive talent.
Most Japanese automakers still design and build the majority of the powertrain and underpinnings for their vehicles in Japan. But they gradually are shifting responsibility for model design and engineering to research centers and studios abroad.
From the RDX, which went on sale this month, to Toyota Motor Corp.'s next Tundra pickup, more Japanese-brand vehicles are being conceived and engineered by North Americans, as well as being manufactured locally. The next-generation Acura MDX, a larger SUV that will hit showrooms in the fall, was developed almost entirely in the United States.
Read Article