Newly named Honda Motor Co. CEO Takanobu Ito will further focus the company's attention on research as a way to combat the global market decline in the midst of the current recession.

It is a corporate tradition at Honda that presidents move up from the company's development subsidiary, Honda R and D Co. Ltd. The current President, Takeo Fukui, 64, was in charge of Honda R and D in 1998. Ito, who is 55, headed the operation from 2003 to 2005.

Ito, however, will return to the R and D job in April and keep that position when he assumes leadership of Honda Motor in June. He will be the first man to hold both positions since Nobuhiko Kawamoto in 1992.

In announcing the management changes at a news conference, Fukui said, "The next couple of years will be difficult. And in order to push through, we need speedy decision making and a compact leadership."

Honda is expecting continued market volatility, with a projected profit decline of 8.1 percent for the fiscal year ending March 31. However, unlike most of the world's carmakers, Honda expects to remain profitable, a position it wants to maintain with streamlined decision making and quick reaction to market conditions.

Although Honda will cut its original budget for R and D for this fiscal year, the company still spent 1.2 percent more in that key area over 2007.