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33 AutoData | December 2018 S ome categories of the AutoData Award, by their own nature, are more extensive in terms of competitors. One of them is Management, since it encompasses companies’ initiatives from the entire automotive chain and all segments of the auto vehicles industry. Despite this, Honda Automóveis has not only been nominated in this category for two consecutive years, in 2017 and 2018, as being the voters’ preferred choice. It is a truly remarkable achievement. Last year, for inaugurating a specific research and technological development center for local operations in Sumaré, SP, where the WR-V was born. And this year, for promoting a true lost recall hunt. In a pioneering and daring initiative the company, in several ways, ran after its vehicles’ owners that did not attend the call to replace defective airbags, although the traditional advertising campaign for that has been widely spread by radio, television, magazines and newspapers - the recall involves models produced up to seventeen years ago. The manufacturer extrapolated its legal responsibility and developed ways to find those vehicles and convince their owners about the repair importance. In Minas Gerais, for example, teams of the company went literally to the streets of Belo Horizonte and Contagem in search for large vehicle circulation places like malls, commercial centers and gas stations to try to locate units that were possibly involved in the call by the license plate and, this way, the chassis number. In São Paulo, the manufacturer built partnerships with Detran, insurance companies and automatic toll collection companies. These initiatives, combined, found no less than 163 thousand clients. For Roberto Akiyama, commercial vice president, the victory “is very important because it does not represent simply a prize. AutoData is an extremely recognized and highly credible means of communication whose work has repercussions throughout the automotive segment. This victory crowns our long-standing effort for many years, seeing the automobile business considering the entire chain, from suppliers to customers, going through dealers, and, naturally, through our process of creating and producing vehicles. We are very happy and we believe that other companies will see Honda as a reference”. “This victory crowns our long-standing effort for many years, seeing the automobile business considering the entire chain. We are very happy and we believe that other companies will have Honda as a reference.” Roberto Akiyama, commercial vice president of Honda Automóveis Christian Castanho left to right, Rodnei Bernardino de Souza, of Itaú, Sérgio Bessa and Roberto Akiyama, from Honda, and Emy Yanagizawa, from Rhodia