Jon Ikeda (born July 31, 1965) is an American automobile designer and executive. He currently serves as senior vice president of

Honda Racing Corporation USA Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US), formerly Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD), is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations cente ...

. He previously served as vice president and brand officer of

Acura Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, M ...

Early life and education

Ikeda, a

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, immigrated to the United States in 1978, and grew up in Glendale and

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. In 1989, he graduated from the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

in Pasadena, with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in industrial design.

Career

In fall 1989, Ikeda was hired by Honda, working at the automaker's advanced design studio in Tokyo. While in Japan, he contributed to the design of the award-winning 1991 Honda FS-X concept, as well as the first generation

Acura RL The Acura RL is a mid-size luxury car that was manufactured by the Acura division of Honda for the 1996–2012 model years over two generations. The RL was the flagship of the marque, having succeeded the Acura Legend, and was replaced in 2013 by ...

. In 1995, he was relocated to Honda R&D Americas. Upon returning to the United States, he was named design project leader of the 2001

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/Honda City, City and Honda Accord in Honda's global passenger car line-up. The first-generation Civic was introduced in July 1972 ...

coupe, and was lead designer of the 2004

Acura TL The Acura TL is a car that was manufactured by Acura, the luxury division of Honda. It was introduced in 1995 to replace the Acura Vigor and was badge engineering, badged for the Japanese-market from 1996 to 2000 as the Honda Inspire and from 1996 ...

, the best-selling Acura model of all time. In his role as chief designer and division director, Ikeda was instrumental in the construction of the Acura Design Studio in 2007. In July 2015, Ikeda was promoted to vice president and general manager of Acura. In his new role, he was credited with reinvigorating the Acura brand with a renewed focus on design. On April 1, 2019, he was named brand officer of Acura. In April 2024, he was named senior vice president of Honda Racing Corporation USA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikeda, Jon 1965 births Living people Acura American automobile designers American businesspeople ArtCenter College of Design alumni Corporate executives in the automobile industry Designers from Tokyo Honda people Japanese emigrants to the United States People from Glendale, California Businesspeople from Pasadena, California