Hitachi Ltd. said Monday it will replace its president and separate two businesses after the company forecast a record loss.

Takashi Kawamura, 69, will replace Kazuo Furukawa starting April 1, Hitachi said, adding it plans to separate its automotive systems and consumer units July 1 and reduce costs by ¥500 billion in the coming business year.

The overhaul adds to a reduction of as many as 7,000 jobs after the company forecast in January it will post a record ¥700 billion loss in the year ending March 31. Electronics companies worldwide, including Sony Corp., have been forced to cut jobs and investments to cope with the global recession.

Kawamura currently serves as chairman of Hitachi Maxell Ltd., a unit making rechargeable batteries and compact discs, and Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd., which produces water-treatment systems and industrial machinery, the company said.

Revenue at the company's automotive systems group, comprising lithium-ion batteries, inverters and small motors, will total ¥280 billion next business year, Hitachi said, equivalent to about 2.8 percent of total sales forecast for this year. The new company will employ about 2,700 workers, it said.

Sales at the consumer operations division, including plasma televisions, liquid-crystal displays for industrial use and mobile phones, will total about ¥160 billion next fiscal year, Hitachi said, or 1.6 percent of overall fiscal 2008 revenue. The unit will employ 750 workers.

On March 31 last year, Hitachi's ¥11.2 trillion in annual revenue ranked third among Japan's publicly traded companies.

Since Namihei Odaira founded Hitachi in 1910 as a repair shop that made electric motors, the company has expanded into businesses ranging from consumer electronics to chemical products to heavy machinery and nuclear reactors.