THE HISTORY OF HONDA

This article is about the multinational corporation. For other uses, see Honda (disambiguation). Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda- Honda-Motor-Aoyama Honda Headquarters Native name 本田技研工業株式会社 Romanized name Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki-gaisha Type Public (K.K.) Traded as TYO: 7267 NYSE: HMC Industry Automotive Aviation Telematics Founded Hamamatsu, Japan (October 1946, incorporated September 24, 1948; 66 years ago) Founder Soichiro Honda Takeo Fujisawa Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan Area served Worldwide Key people Fumihiko Ike (Chairman) Takanobu Ito (President and CEO) Products 4,110,000 vehicles (2012) Automobiles Commercial Vehicles Luxury vehicles Motorcycles Scooters Electrical generators Water pumps Lawn and garden equipments Tillers Outboard motors Robotics Jet aircraft Jet engines Thin-film solar cells Internavi Revenue Increase ¥11.85 trillion (2014)[1] Increase USD$119 billion (2014) Operating income Increase ¥750 billion (2014)[1] Net income Increase ¥574 billion (2014)[2] Increase $5.75 billion (2014) Total assets Increase ¥11.780 trillion (2012)[3] Total equity Decrease ¥4.402 trillion (2012)[3] Owner Japan Trustee Services Bank (Trust) 6.46% The Master Trust Bank of Japan (Trust) 4.71% Mokusurei 3.09% Meiji Yasuda Life 2.83% Tokio Marine Nichido 2.35% (3月年2014 currently) Number of employees 198,561 (2014) Divisions Acura Honda Automobiles Honda Motorcycles Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (本田技研工業株式会社 Honda Giken Kōgyō KK?, IPA: [hoɴda] ( listen); /ˈhɒndə/) is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959,[4][5] as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year.[6] Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001.[7][8] Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, Nissan, and PSA in 2011.[9] Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, which began production in 2012. Honda has three joint-ventures in China (Honda China, Dongfeng Honda, and Guangqi Honda). In 2013, Honda invested about 5.7% (US$6.8 billion) of its revenues in research and development.[10] Also in 2013, Honda became the first Japanese automaker to be a net exporter from the United States, exporting 108,705 Honda and Acura models while importing only 88,357.[11] History Throughout his life, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda had an interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at the Art Shokai garage, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. In 1937, with financing from his acquaintance Kato Shichirō, Honda founded Tōkai Seiki (Eastern Sea Precision Machine Company) to make piston rings working out of the Art Shokai garage.[12] After initial failures, Tōkai Seiki won a contract to supply piston rings to Toyota, but lost the contract due to the poor quality of their products.[12] After attending engineering school without graduating, and visiting factories around Japan to better understand Toyota's quality control processes, by 1941 Honda was able to mass-produce piston rings acceptable to Toyota, using an automated process that could employ even unskilled wartime laborers.[12][13]:16–19 Tōkai Seiki was placed under control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (called the Ministry of Munitions after 1943) at the start of World War II, and Soichiro Honda was demoted from president to senior managing director after Toyota took a 40% stake in the company.[12] Honda also aided the war effort by assisting other companies in automating the production of military aircraft propellers.[12] The relationships Honda cultivated with personnel at Toyota, Nakajima Aircraft Company and the Imperial Japanese Navy would be instrumental in the postwar period.[12] A US B-29 bomber attack destroyed Tōkai Seiki's Yamashita plant in 1944, and the Itawa plant collapsed in the 1945 Mikawa earthquake, and Soichiro Honda sold the salvageable remains of the company to Toyota after the war for ¥450,000, and used the proceeds to found the Honda Technical Research Institute in October 1946.[12][14] With a staff of 12 men working in a 16 m2 (170 sq ft) shack, they built and sold improvised motorized bicycles, using a supply of 500 two-stroke 50 cc Tohatsu war surplus radio generator engines.[12][13]:19[15] When the engines ran out, Honda began building their own copy of the Tohatsu engine, and supplying these to customers to attach their bicycles.[12][15] This was the Honda Model A, nicknamed the Bata Bata for the sound the engine made.[12] In 1949, the Honda Technical Research Institute was liquidated for ¥1,000,000, or about US$5,000 today; these funds were used to incorporate Honda Motor Co., Ltd.[13]:21 At about the same time Honda hired engineer Kihachiro Kawashima, and Takeo Fujisawa who provided indispensable business and marketing expertise to complement Soichiro Honda's technical bent.[13]:21 The close partnership between Soichiro Honda and Fujisawa lasted until they stepped down together in October 1973.[13]:21 The first complete motorcycle, with both the frame and engine made by Honda, was the 1949 Model D, the first Honda to go by the name Dream.[14][16] Honda Motor Company grew in a short time to become the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964. The first production automobile from Honda was the T360 mini pick-up truck, which went on sale in August 1963.[17] Powered by a small 356-cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified under the cheaper Kei car tax bracket.[18] The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports car, which followed the T360 into production in October 1963. Its chain-driven rear wheels pointed to Honda's motorcycle origins.[19] Over the next few decades, Honda worked to expand its product line and expanded operations and exports to numerous countries around the world. In 1986, Honda introduced the successful Acura brand to the American market in an attempt to gain ground in the luxury vehicle market. The year 1991 saw the introduction of the Honda NSX supercar, the first all-aluminum monocoque vehicle that incorporated a mid-engine V6 with variable-valve timing.[20] CEO Tadashi Kume was succeeded by Nobuhiko Kawamoto in 1990. Kawamoto was selected over Shoichiro Irimajiri, who oversaw the successful establishment of Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. in Marysville, Ohio. Both Kawamoto and Irimajiri shared a friendly rivalry within Honda, and Irimajiri would resign in 1992 due to health issues. Following the death of Soichiro Honda and the departure of Irimajiri, Honda found itself quickly being outpaced in product development by other Japanese automakers and was caught off-guard by the truck and sport utility vehicle boom of the 1990s, all which took a toll on the profitability of the company. Japanese media reported in 1992 and 1993 that Honda was at serious risk of an unwanted and hostile takeover by Mitsubishi Motors, who at the time was a larger automaker by volume and flush with profits from their successful Pajero and Diamante.[21] Kawamoto acted quickly to change Honda's corporate culture, rushing through market-driven product development that resulted in recreational vehicles such as the Odyssey[disambiguation needed] and the CR-V, and a refocusing away from some of the numerous sedans and coupes that were popular with Honda's engineers but not with the buying public. The most shocking change to Honda came when Kawamoto ended Honda's successful participation in Formula One after the 1992 season, citing costs in light of the takeover threat from Mitsubishi as well as the desire to create a more environmentally-friendly company image.[22] Later, 1995 gave rise to the Honda Aircraft Company with the goal of producing jet aircraft under Honda's name.[23] On February 23, 2015, Honda announced that CEO and President Takanobu Ito would step down and be replaced by Takahiro Hachigo by June; additional retirements by senior managers and directors were expected.[24] Corporate profile and divisions Honda headquarters building in Minato, Tokyo Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. The company has assembly plants around the globe. These plants are located in China, the United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, México, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Taiwan, Perú and Argentina. As of July 2010, 89 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2 percent a year earlier. This shields profits from the yen's advance to a 15-year high against the dollar.[25] Honda's Net Sales and Other Operating Revenue by Geographical Regions in 2007[26] Geographic Region Total revenue (in millions of ¥) Japan 1,681,190 North America 5,980,876 Europe 1,236,757 Asia 1,283,154 Others 905,163 American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California. Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is Honda's motorcycle racing division. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in Markham, Ontario,[27] their manufacturing division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in India,[28] Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, Boon Siew Honda in Malaysia and Honda Atlas in Pakistan. Following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 Honda announced plans to halve production at its UK plants.[citation needed] The decision was made to put staff at the Swindon plant on a 2-day week until the end of May as the manufacturer struggled to source supplies from Japan. It's thought around 22,500 cars were produced during this period. Leadership Name Years Soichiro Honda 1948–1973 Kiyoshi Kawashima 1973–1983 Tadashi Kume 1983–1990 Nobuhiko Kawamoto 1990–1998 Hiroyuki Yoshino 1998–2003 Takeo Fukui 2003–2009 Takanobu Ito 2009–2015 Takahiro Hachigo 2015– Products Automobiles For a list of vehicles, see List of Honda vehicles. 2008 Honda Accord (USA-Canada) Ninth Generation Honda Civic (Asian Version) Honda's global lineup consists of the Fit, Civic, Accord, Insight, CR-V, CR-Z, Legend and two versions of the Odyssey, one for North America, and a smaller vehicle sold internationally. An early proponent of developing vehicles to cater to different needs and markets worldwide, Honda's lineup varies by country and may have vehicles exclusive to that region. A few examples are the latest Honda Odyssey minivan and the Ridgeline, Honda's first light-duty uni-body pickup truck. Both were designed and engineered primarily in North America and are produced there. Other example of exclusive models includes the Honda Civic five-door hatchback sold in Europe. Honda's automotive manufacturing ambitions can be traced back to 1963, with the Honda T360, a kei car truck built for the Japanese market.[29] This was followed by the two-door roadster, the Honda S500 also introduced in 1963. In 1965, Honda built a two-door commercial delivery van, called the Honda L700. Honda's first four-door sedan was not the Accord, but the air-cooled, four-cylinder, gasoline-powered Honda 1300 in 1969. The Civic was a hatchback that gained wide popularity internationally, but it wasn't the first two-door hatchback built. That was the Honda N360, another Kei car that was adapted for international sale as the N600. The Civic, which appeared in 1972 and replaced the N600 also had a smaller sibling that replaced the air-cooled N360, called the Honda Life that was water-cooled. The Honda Life represented Honda's efforts in competing in the kei car segment, offering sedan, delivery van and small pick-up platforms on a shared chassis. The Life StepVan had a novel approach that, while not initially a commercial success, appears to be an influence in vehicles with the front passengers sitting behind the engine, a large cargo area with a flat roof and a liftgate installed in back, and utilizing a transversely installed engine with a front-wheel-drive powertrain. As Honda entered into automobile manufacturing in the late 1960s, where Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan had been making cars since before WWII, it appears that Honda instilled a sense of doing things a little differently than its Japanese competitors. Its mainstay products, like the Accord and Civic (with the exception of its USA-market 1993–97 Passport which was part of a vehicle exchange program with Isuzu (part of the Subaru-Isuzu joint venture)), have always employed front-wheel-drive powertrain implementation, which is currently a long held Honda tradition. Honda also installed new technologies into their products, first as optional equipment, then later standard, like anti lock brakes, speed sensitive power steering, and multi-port fuel injection in the early 1980s. This desire to be the first to try new approaches is evident with the creation of the first Japanese luxury chain Acura, and was also evident with the all aluminum, mid-engined sports car, the Honda NSX, which also introduced variable valve timing technology, Honda calls VTEC. The Civic is a line of compact cars developed and manufactured by Honda. In North America, the Civic is the second-longest continuously running nameplate from a Japanese manufacturer; only its perennial rival, the Toyota Corolla, introduced in 1968, has been in production longer.[30] The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded. Having gone through several generational changes, the Civic has become larger and more upmarket, and it currently slots between the Fit and Accord. Honda produces Civic hybrid, a hybrid electric vehicle that competes with the Toyota Prius, and also produces the Insight and CR-Z. In 2008, Honda increased global production to meet demand for small cars and hybrids in the U.S. and emerging markets. The company shuffled U.S. production to keep factories busy and boost car output, while building fewer minivans and sport utility vehicles as light truck sales fell.[31] Its first entrance into the pickup segment, the light duty Ridgeline, won Truck of the Year from Motor Trend magazine in 2006. Also in 2006, the redesigned Civic won Car of the Year from the magazine, giving Honda a rare double win of Motor Trend honors. Honda's 9th generation Civic also won the Car of the Year award based on a public survey held by PakWheels It is reported that Honda plans to increase hybrid sales in Japan to more than 20% of its total sales in fiscal year 2011, from 14.8% in previous year.[32] Five of United States Environmental Protection Agency's top ten most fuel-efficient cars from 1984 to 2010 comes from Honda, more than any other automakers. The five models are: 2000–2006 Honda Insight (53 mpg-US or 4.4 L/100 km or 64 mpg-imp combined), 1986–1987 Honda Civic Coupe HF (46 mpg-US or 5.1 L/100 km or 55 mpg-imp combined), 1994–1995 Honda Civic hatchback VX (43 mpg-US or 5.5 L/100 km or 52 mpg-imp combined), 2006– Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg-US or 5.6 L/100 km or 50 mpg-imp combined), and 2010– Honda Insight (41 mpg-US or 5.7 L/100 km or 49 mpg-imp combined).[33] The ACEEE has also rated the Civic GX as the greenest car in America for seven consecutive years.[34] Motorcycles For a list of motorcycle products, see List of Honda motorcycles. Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955.[12] At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost three million motorcycles annually. By 2006 this figure had reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic competitors.[12] During the 1960s, when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of the Japanese motorcycle market and began exporting to the U.S. Working with the advertising agency Grey Advertising, Honda created an innovative marketing campaign, using the slogan "You meet the nicest people on a Honda." In contrast to the prevailing negative stereotypes of motorcyclists in America as tough, antisocial rebels, this campaign suggested that Honda motorcycles were made for the everyman. The campaign was hugely successful; the ads ran for three years, and by the end of 1963 alone, Honda had sold 90,000 motorcycles.[13]:{{{1}}} Taking Honda's story as an archetype of the smaller manufacturer entering a new market already occupied by highly dominant competitors, the story of their market entry, and their subsequent huge success in the U.S. and around the world, has been the subject of some academic controversy. Competing explanations have been advanced to explain Honda's strategy and the reasons for their success.[35] The first of these explanations was put forward when, in 1975, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was commissioned by the UK government to write a report explaining why and how the British motorcycle industry had been out-competed by its Japanese competitors. The report concluded that the Japanese firms, including Honda, had sought a very high scale of production (they had made a large number of motorbikes) in order to benefit from economies of scale and learning curve effects. It blamed the decline of the British motorcycle industry on the failure of British managers to invest enough in their businesses to profit from economies of scale and scope.[36] 2004 Honda Super Cub The second explanation was offered in 1984 by Richard Pascale, who had interviewed the Honda executives responsible for the firm's entry into the U.S. market. As opposed to the tightly focused strategy of low cost and high scale that BCG accredited to Honda, Pascale found that their entry into the U.S. market was a story of "miscalculation, serendipity, and organizational learning" – in other words, Honda's success was due to the adaptability and hard work of its staff, rather than any long term strategy.[37] For example, Honda's initial plan on entering the US was to compete in large motorcycles, around 300 cc. Honda's motorcycles in this class suffered performance and reliability problems when ridden the relatively long distances of the US highways.[13]:41–43 When the team found that the scooters they were using to get themselves around their U.S. base of San Francisco attracted positive interest from consumers that they fell back on selling the Super Cub instead.[13]:41–43 The most recent school of thought on Honda's strategy was put forward by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad in 1989. Creating the concept of core competencies with Honda as an example, they argued that Honda's success was due to its focus on leadership in the technology of internal combustion engines.[38] For example, the high power-to-weight ratio engines Honda produced for its racing bikes provided technology and expertise which was transferable into mopeds. Honda's entry into the U.S. motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a case study for teaching introductory strategy at business schools worldwide.[39] Power equipment Production started in 1953 with H-type engine (prior to motorcycle).[40] Honda power equipment reached record sales in 2007 with 6.4 million units.[41] By 2010 (Fiscal year ended 31 March) this figure had decreased to 4,7 million units.[42] Cumulative production of power products has exceeded 85 million units (as of September 2008).[43] Honda power equipment includes: Engine Tiller Lawn mower Robotic lawn mower Riding mower Trimmer Mower Blower Sprayer Hedge trimmer Snowthrower Generator, welding power supply Pumps Outboard engine Inflatable boat Electric 4-wheel Scooter Compact Household Cogeneration Unit Engines [icon] This section requires expansion. (April 2009) Honda Outboard motor on a pontoon boat Honda engines powered the entire 33-car starting field of the 2010 Indianapolis 500[44] and for the fifth consecutive race, there were no engine-related retirements during the running of the Memorial Day Classic.[45] In the 1980s Honda developed the GY6 engine for use in motor scooters. Although no longer manufactured by Honda it is still commonly used in many Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese light vehicles.[46] Honda, despite being known as an engine company, has never built a V8 for passenger vehicles. In the late 1990s, the company resisted considerable pressure from its American dealers for a V8 engine (which would have seen use in top-of-the-line Honda SUVs and Acuras), with American Honda reportedly sending one dealer a shipment of V8 beverages to silence them.[47] Honda considered starting V8 production in the mid-2000s for larger Acura sedans, a new version of the high end NSX sports car (which previously used DOHC V6 engines with VTEC to achieve its high power output) and possible future ventures into the American full-size truck and SUV segment for both the Acura and Honda brands, but this was cancelled in late 2008, with Honda citing environmental and worldwide economic conditions as reasons for the termination of this project.[48] Robots ASIMO at Expo 2005 ASIMO is the part of Honda's Research & Development robotics program. It is the eleventh in a line of successive builds starting in 1986 with Honda E0 moving through the ensuing Honda E series and the Honda P series. Weighing 54 kilograms and standing 130 centimeters tall, ASIMO resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack, and can walk on two feet in a manner resembling human locomotion, at up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). ASIMO is the world's only humanoid robot able to ascend and descend stairs independently.[49] However, human motions such as climbing stairs are difficult to mimic with a machine, which ASIMO has demonstrated by taking two plunges off a staircase. Honda's robot ASIMO (see below) as an R&D project brings together expertise to create a robot that walks, dances and navigates steps. 2010 marks the year Honda has developed a machine capable of reading a user's brainwaves to move ASIMO. The system uses a helmet covered with electroencephalography and near-infrared spectroscopy sensors that monitor electrical brainwaves and cerebral blood flow—signals that alter slightly during the human thought process. The user thinks of one of a limited number of gestures it wants from the robot, which has been fitted with a Brain Machine Interface.[50] Aircraft Main article: Honda HA-420 HondaJet Honda has also pioneered new technology in its HA-420 HondaJet, manufactured by its subsidiary Honda Aircraft Company, which allows new levels of reduced drag, increased aerodynamics and fuel efficiency thus reducing operating costs.[citation needed] Solar cells Honda's solar cell subsidiary company Honda Soltec (Headquarters: Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto; President and CEO: Akio Kazusa) started sales throughout Japan of thin-film solar cells for public and industrial use on 24 October 2008, after selling solar cells for residential use since October 2007.[51] Honda announced in the end of October 2013 that Honda Soltec would cease the business operation except for support for existing customers in Spring 2014 and the subsidiary would be dissolved.[52] Mountain bikes See also: Honda RN-01 G-cross Honda has also built a downhill racing bicycle known as the Honda RN-01. It is not available for sale to the public. The bike has a gearbox, which replaces the standard derailleur found on most bikes. Honda has hired several people to pilot the bike, among them Greg Minnaar. The team is known as Team G Cross Honda. ATV See also: Honda Rincon Honda also builds all-terrain vehicles (ATV). 450r 400ex 300ex 250r Motorsports Honda has been active in motorsports, like Motorcycle Grand Prix, Superbike racing and others. Automobile See also: Honda Racing F1 Rubens Barrichello driving for Honda Honda entered Formula One as a constructor for the first time in the 1964 season at the German Grand Prix with Ronnie Bucknum at the wheel. 1965 saw the addition of Richie Ginther to the team, who scored Honda's first point at the Belgian Grand Prix, and Honda's first win at the Mexican Grand Prix. 1967 saw their next win at the Italian Grand Prix with John Surtees as their driver. In 1968, Jo Schlesser was killed in a Honda RA302 at the French Grand Prix. This racing tragedy, coupled with their commercial difficulties selling automobiles in the United States, prompted Honda to withdraw from all international motorsport that year.