commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese
multinational conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in
Minato, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English.
Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba, Tokyo, Shiba wards following Tokyo City's Local Autonomy Ac ...
, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by
Soichiro Honda
was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.
Early years
Honda ...
, Honda has been the world's largest
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
manufacturer since 1959, reaching a production of 500 million . It is also the world's largest manufacturer of
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
s measured by number of units, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001. In 2015, Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world. The company has also built and sold the most produced motor vehicle in history, the
Honda Super Cub
The Honda Super Cub (or Honda Cub) is a Honda underbone motorcycle with a four-stroke engine, four-stroke single cylinder engine, single-cylinder engine ranging in engine displacement, displacement from .
In continuous manufacture since 1958 wit ...
.
Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand,
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 ...
, on 27 March 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines,
personal watercraft
A personal watercraft (PWC), also called Jet Ski or water scooter, is a primarily recreational watercraft that is designed to hold only a small number of occupants, who sit or stand on top of the craft, not within the craft as in a boat.
P ...
, power generators, and other products. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their
ASIMO
ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is a humanoid robot created by Honda in 2000.
In 2002, there were 20 units of the first ASIMO model produced; three different ASIMO models subsequently followed. As of February 2009, there were over ...
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
The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is a light business jet produced by the Honda Aircraft Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.
Original concepts of the aircraft started in 1997 and were completed in 1999.
It took its maiden flight on ...
, which began production in 2012. Honda has two joint-ventures in China:
Dongfeng Honda and
GAC Honda
GAC Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese automobile manufacturing joint venture company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, Guangdong province.
Co-owned by Honda and GAC Group (''Guangqi''), GAC Honda operates two plants that, , produces Honda-b ...
.
In 2013, Honda invested about 5.7% (US$6.8 billion) of its revenues into research and development. 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.
History

Throughout his life, Honda's founder,
Soichiro Honda
was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.
Early years
Honda ...
(1906–1991), 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 Kato or Katō may refer to:
Places
*Kato, Guyana, a village in Guyana
*Katō, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
* Katō District, Hokkaido, a district located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
*Katowice, a city in Southern Poland, ...
, Honda founded
Tōkai Seiki (Eastern Sea Precision Machine Company) to make
piston ring
A piston ring is a metallic split ring that is attached to the outer diameter of a piston in an internal combustion engine or steam engine.
The main functions of piston rings in engines are:
# Sealing the combustion chamber so that there is mini ...
s working out of the Art Shokai garage.
[ After initial failures, Tōkai Seiki won a contract to supply piston rings to ]Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
, but lost the contract due to the poor quality of their products.[ After attending engineering school without graduating, and visiting factories around Japan to better understand Toyota's quality control processes known as "]five whys
Five whys (or 5 whys) is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeati ...
", by 1941 Honda was able to mass-produce piston rings acceptable to Toyota, using an automated process that could employ even unskilled wartime laborers.[
Tōkai Seiki was placed under the control of the ]Ministry of Commerce and Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce.
Notable examples are:
List
*Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
(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.[ Honda also aided the war effort by assisting other companies in automating the production of military aircraft propellers.][ The relationships Honda cultivated with personnel at Toyota, ]Nakajima Aircraft Company
The was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer and aviation engine manufacturer throughout World War II. It continues as the car and aircraft manufacturer Subaru Corporation, Subaru.
History
The Nakajima Aircraft company was Japan's first ...
and the Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
would be instrumental in the postwar period.[ A US ]B-29
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...
bomber attack destroyed Tōkai Seiki's Yamashita plant in 1944, and the Itawa plant collapsed on 13 January during the 1945 Mikawa earthquake. 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.[
With a staff of 12 men working in a shack, they built and sold improvised ]motorized bicycles
A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propu ...
, using a supply of 500 two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...
''50 cc'' Tohatsu
, previously Tokyo Hatsudoki Company, is a Japanese company manufacturing and selling outboard motors, pleasure boats, portable fire pumps, small fire trucks, pumps for construction and drainage, and refrigeration units for transportation. It al ...
war surplus radio generator engines.[ When the engines ran out, Honda began building their own copy of the Tohatsu engine, and supplying these to customers to attach to their bicycles.][ This was the Honda A-Type, nicknamed the Bata Bata for the sound the engine made.][ In 1949, the Honda Technical Research Institute was liquidated for 1,000,000, or about 5,000 today; these funds were used to incorporate Honda Motor Co., Ltd.][ At about the same time Honda hired engineer Kihachiro Kawashima, and ]Takeo Fujisawa
was a Japanese businessman who co-founded Honda Motor Co., Ltd. alongside Soichiro Honda. Fujisawa oversaw the financial side of the company while Honda handled the engineering and product development. Together, they took the company from a sma ...
who provided indispensable business and marketing expertise to complement Soichiro Honda's technical bent.[ The close partnership between Soichiro Honda and Fujisawa lasted until they stepped down together in October 1973.][
The first complete motorcycle with both the frame and engine made by Honda was the 1949 D-Type, the first Honda to go by the name Dream.][ In 1961, Honda achieved its first Grand Prix victories and World Championships in the 125 cc and 250 cc categories. 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. Powered by a small 356 cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified under the cheaper ]Kei car
Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese expressway-legal motor vehicles. The term ''kei'' is a shortening of , (kanji: ), which translates to English as "light vehicle" ().
With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners ...
tax bracket. The second 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.
Over the next few decades, Honda worked to expand its product line, operations and exports to numerous countries around the world. In 1986, Honda introduced the successful 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 ...
brand to the American market in an attempt to gain ground in the luxury vehicle
A luxury car is a passenger automobile providing superior comfort levels, features, and equipment. More expensive materials and surface finishes are used, and buyers expect a correspondingly high quality (business), build quality.
The term is ...
market. The year 1991 saw the introduction of the Honda NSX
The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seater, Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, rear mid-engined, rear-wheel drive sports car manufactured by Honda.
The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X ...
supercar, the first all-aluminum monocoque vehicle that incorporated a mid-engine
In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle.
History
The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout ...
V6 with variable-valve timing.
In 1990, CEO Tadashi Kume was succeeded by Nobuhiko Kawamoto. Kawamoto was selected over Shoichiro Irimajiri
and raised in Kobe is a Japanese engineer and businessman.
He earned an aeronautical engineering degree from the University of Tokyo and worked for Honda Motor Co., Ltd. for 20 years, overseeing the introduction of its CBX motorcycle, design o ...
, who oversaw the successful establishment of Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. in Marysville, Ohio
Marysville is a city in Union County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 25,571 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately northwest of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, it is part of the Columbus met ...
. Irimajiri and Kawamoto shared a friendly rivalry within Honda; owing to health issues, Irimajiri would resign in 1992.
Following the death of Soichiro Honda
was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.
Early years
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
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
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
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. , which at the time was a larger automaker by volume and was flush with profits from its successful Pajero and Diamante models.
Kawamoto acted quickly to change Honda's corporate culture, rushing through market-driven product development that resulted in recreational vehicles such as the first-generation Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
and the CR-V
The Honda CR-V (A variant model is called Honda Breeze in China By GAC-Honda since 2019,The CR-V is still manufactured by Dongfeng Honda) is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda since 1995. Initial models of the C ...
, and a refocusing away from some of the numerous sedans and coupes that were popular with the company's engineers but not with the buying public. The most shocking change to Honda came when Kawamoto ended the company'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.
The Honda Aircraft Company
Honda Aircraft Company is an aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, responsible for the production of the HondaJet family of aircraft. Originally a secret research project within Honda R&D, Honda Aircraft Company was ...
as established in 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary to manufacture and sell the HondaJet
The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is a light business jet produced by the Honda Aircraft Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.
Original concepts of the aircraft started in 1997 and were completed in 1999.
It took its maiden flight on ...
family of aircraft. The first deliveries to customers began in December 2015.
On 23 February 2015, Honda announced that CEO and President Takanobu Ito would step down and be replaced by Takahiro Hachigo in June of that year; additional retirements by senior managers and directors were expected.
In October 2019, Honda was reported to be in talks with Hitachi
() is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
to merge the two companies' car parts businesses, creating a components supplier with almost $17 billion in annual sales.
In January 2020, Honda announced that it would be withdrawing employees working in the city of Wuhan
Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...
, Hubei
Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. On 23 March 2020 due to the global spread of the virus, Honda became the first major automaker with operations in the US to suspend production in its factories. It resumed automobile, engine and transmission production at its US plants on 11 May 2020.
Honda and General Motors announced in September 2020 a North American alliance to begin in 2021. According to The Detroit Free Press, "The proposed alliance will include sharing a range of vehicles, to be sold under each company's distinct brands, as well as cooperation in purchasing, research and development, and connected services."
In 2021, Honda announced its intention to become the world's first carmaker to sell a vehicle with level 3 self-driving technology.
In March 2022, Honda announced it would develop and build electric vehicles in a joint venture with electronics giant Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
. The latter is set to provide its imaging, sensing, network and other technologies while Honda would be responsible for the car manufacturing processes. The Sony Honda Mobility company was officially announced on 13 October 2022 with pre-orders said to open in 2025 and the release of the first EVs scheduled for 2026 in the US under the "Afeela" brand.
On 2 February 2023, Honda announced a deal with American car company General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
to produce cars using a new hydrogen fuel system. The aim is to ramp up the hydrogen powered cells in their Electric vehicles as well as trucks, construction machinery, and power stations.
On 15 March 2023, Honda recalled 500,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada due to an issue with seat belts in the car not latching correctly. Among the models recalled were the 2017-2020 CR-V, the 2018 and 2019 Accord, the 2018-2020 Odyssey, the 2019 Insight, and the Acura RDX from 2019 and 2020. According to the recall, the seat belts in the front seats would break open on impact increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
On 21 December 2023, Honda announced a global recall of about 4.5 million vehicles, including 2.54 million in the US, over fuel pump failures, following earlier recalls in 2021 and 2020 for the same issue.
Attempted merger with Nissan
On 23 December 2024, Honda officially announced an MOU had been entered to merge with fellow automaker Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
to become the 3rd largest auto company by sales. Mitsubishi Motors
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. , in which Nissan has 24% ownership, also agreed to join the talks of integration. The merger was officially set with a deadline of 2026. Mitsubishi announced it would make a decision on merging with the new company by the end of January 2025.
In February 2025, Honda and Nissan announced that their boards had voted to end talks to merge. Nissan reportedly backed out of the talks with larger rival Honda after negotiations were complicated by growing differences, including Honda’s proposal that Nissan become a subsidiary.
Senior leadership
* ''Chairman:'' Toshiaki Mikoshiba (since April 2019)
* ''President and Chief Executive'': Toshihiro Mibe (since April 2021)
Corporate profile and divisions
Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English.
Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba, Tokyo, Shiba wards following Tokyo City's Local Autonomy Ac ...
, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan.
The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...
and the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
, as well as exchanges in Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
, Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
, Sapporo
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
, Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
, Fukuoka
is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
, London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, 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% of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2% a year earlier. This shields profits from the yen's advance to a 15-year high against the dollar.
American Honda Motor Company
The American Honda Motor Company, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as AHM) is the North American subsidiary of Japanese Honda Motor Company. Founded in 1959, the company combines product sales, service and coordinating functions of Honda in North Ame ...
is based in Torrance, California
Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...
. Honda Racing Corporation
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), also known as Honda Racing, is a motorsport subsidiary of the Honda, Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. From its founding, the company was initially solely responsible for Honda's motorcycle racing activities, b ...
(HRC) is Honda's motorsport division. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in Markham, Ontario
Markham () is a city in Regional Municipality of York, York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in ...
, it was originally planned to be located in Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill ( 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and the 27th most populous municipality in Canada. Ric ...
, but delays led them to look elsewhere. Their manufacturing division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing
Honda of Canada Manufacturing () is located in Alliston, Ontario and is the automobile manufacturing division of Honda Canada Inc.
Manufacturing
The Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM) plants in Alliston have a land area of and have their own r ...
, is based in Alliston, Ontario
Alliston is a settlement in Simcoe County, Ontario, Simcoe County in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has been part of the Town of New Tecumseth, Ontario, New Tecumseth since the 1991 amalgamation of All ...
. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of ...
in India, Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, Boon Siew Honda in Malaysia and Honda Atlas
Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan is a Pakistani automobile manufacturer which is a subsidiary of Japanese car maker Honda. Founded in 1992, as a joint venture between Honda Motor and Atlas Group, it is based in Lahore, Pakistan.
The company stock ...
in Pakistan. The company also runs a business innovation initiative called Honda Xcelerator, in order to build relationships with innovators, partner with Silicon Valley startups and entrepreneurs, and help other companies work on prototypes. Xcelerator had worked with reportedly 40 companies as of January 2019. Xcelerator and a developer studio are part of the Honda Innovations group, formed in Spring 2017 and based in Mountain View, California
Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
Mountain V ...
. Through Honda Mobilityland, Honda also operate the Suzuka Circuit
The , the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. It is most well known by i ...
and Twin Ring Motegi
Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport venue located in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the venue's name came from the facility having two race ...
racing tracks.
Following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
Eleven or 11 may refer to:
*11 (number)
* One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011
Literature
* ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn
*''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith
*''Eleven'' ...
in Japan, Honda announced plans to halve production at its UK plants. 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.
Finances
For the fiscal year 2018, Honda reported earnings of US$9.534 billion, with an annual revenue of US$138.250 billion, an increase of 6.2% over the previous fiscal cycle. Honda's shares traded at over $32 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$50.4 billion in October 2018.
Products
Automobiles
Honda's automotive manufacturing ambitions can be traced back to 1963, with the Honda T360
The Honda T360 is a pickup truck from Honda. Introduced in June 1963, it was Honda's first production automobile, beating the S500 Sports by four months. There was also a larger-engined version called the T500, mainly sold in export.
Overview
...
, a Kei truck
A kei truck, kei-class truck, or Japanese mini truck, known in Japan as a ( ), is a style of pickup truck built to satisfy the Japanese ( ) Vehicle size class#Japan, statutory class of light vehicles. Limited to certain size restrictions—cu ...
built for the Japanese market. This was followed by the two-door roadster, the Honda S500
The Honda S500 was the second production car model manufactured by Honda (and its first passenger automobile), released in 1963, following the T360 truck into production by four months. It was a larger-displacement variant of the S360 roadster ...
also introduced in 1963. In 1965, Honda built a two-door commercial delivery van, named the Honda L700. Honda's first four-door sedan was not the Honda Accord
The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States sinc ...
, but the air-cooled, four-cylinder, gasoline-powered Honda 1300
The Honda 1300 is an automobile which was produced by Japanese manufacturer Honda from 1969 to 1972. The largest car manufactured by the company to that point, the front wheel drive 1300 was released as a sedan and coupé intended to compete prima ...
which was introduced in 1969. The Civic was a hatchback that gained wide popularity internationally, but it wasn't the first two-door hatchback built by Honda. That was the Honda N360
The Honda N360 is a small front-engine, front-wheel drive, two-door, four-passenger car manufactured and marketed by Honda from March 1967 through 1972 in Japan's highly regulated kei class — as both a two-door sedan and three-door wagon. ...
, a Kei car
Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese expressway-legal motor vehicles. The term ''kei'' is a shortening of , (kanji: ), which translates to English as "light vehicle" ().
With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners ...
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
The Honda Life is an automobile nameplate that was used on various kei car/city cars produced by Honda: passenger cars, microvans, and kei trucks. The first series of the nameplate was built between 1971 and 1974, with the nameplate revived in 1 ...
, which 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 Step Van had a novel approach that, while not initially a commercial success, appeared to be an influence to 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, 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
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...
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
An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti- skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maintai ...
, speed-sensitive power steering, and multi-port fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All co ...
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
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 ...
, and was also evident with the all-aluminum, mid-engined sports car, the Honda NSX
The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seater, Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, rear mid-engined, rear-wheel drive sports car manufactured by Honda.
The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X ...
, which also introduced variable valve timing
Variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a Poppet valve, valve lift event in an internal combustion engine, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combina ...
technology, which Honda calls VTEC
VTEC (described as ''Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control'', but stands for ''Valve Timing Electronically Controlled'') is a system developed by Honda to improve the volumetric efficiency of a four-stroke internal combustion engine, r ...
.
The Civic family is a line of compact car
Compact car is a vehicle size class—predominantly used in North America—that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However, before ...
s 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
The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...
, introduced in 1966, has been in production longer. 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's first hybrid electric vehicle
A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that couples a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with one or more electric engines into a hybrid vehicle drivetrain, combined propulsion system. The presence of the electri ...
was the 1999 Insight
Insight is the understanding of a specific causality, cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings:
*a piece of information
*the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of se ...
. The Civic was first offered as a hybrid in 2001, and the Accord followed in 2004. In 2008, the company launched the Clarity
Clarity may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Clarity'' (Jimmy Eat World album) or the title song, 1999
* ''Clarity'' (Sifow album) or the title song, 2006
* ''Clarity'' (Zedd album) or the title song (see below), 2012
* ''Clarity'' (mixtape), by K ...
, a fuel cell car.
In 2008, Honda increased global production to meet the demand for small cars and hybrids in the US and emerging markets. The company shuffled US production to keep factories busy and boost car output while building fewer minivan
Minivan (sometimes called simply a van) is a car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows . The equivalent classification in Europe is MPV (multi-p ...
s and sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
s as light truck
Light truck or light-duty truck is a US classification for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight up to and a payload capacity up to . Similar goods vehicle classes in the European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are termed light ...
sales fell.
Its first entrance into the pickup segment, the light-duty Ridgeline, won Truck of the Year from ''Motor Trend
''Motor Trend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949.
Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''Motor Trend'' until 1998, when it was sold ...
'' magazine in 2006. Also in 2006, the redesigned Civic won Car of the Year
Car of the Year (COTY) is a common abbreviation for numerous automotive awards.
The "Car of the Year" phrase is considered to have been introduced by '' Motor Trend'' magazine in 1949 when the new publication named Cadillac as Motor Trend Car of ...
from the magazine, giving Honda a rare double win of Motor Trend honors.
It is reported that Honda plans to increase hybrid sales in Japan to more than 20% of its total sales in the fiscal year 2011, from 14.8% in the previous year.
Five of United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
's top ten most fuel-efficient cars from 1984 to 2010 come from Honda, more than any other automakers. The five models are: 2000–2006 Honda Insight ( combined), 1986–1987 Honda Civic Coupe HF ( combined), 1994–1995 Honda Civic hatchback VX ( combined), 2006– Honda Civic Hybrid ( combined), and 2010– Honda Insight ( combined). The ACEEE
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. Founded in 1980, ACEEE's mission is to act as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behav ...
has also rated the Civic GX as the greenest car in America for seven consecutive years.
Honda currently builds vehicles in factories located in Japan, the United States of America, Canada, China, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Belgium, Brazil, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Motorcycles
Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955.[
At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost three million motorcycles annually. By 2006, this figure had been reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic competitors.][
In 2017, India became the largest motorcycle market for Honda. In India, Honda is leading in the scooters segment, with 59% market share.
During the 1960s when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of the Japanese motorcycle market and began exporting to the United States. Working with the advertising agency ]Grey Advertising
Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asi ...
, 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.[
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 US 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.
The first of these explanations was put forward when, in 1975, the ]Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...
(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
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...
and learning curve
A learning curve is a graphical representation of the relationship between how proficient people are at a task and the amount of experience they have. Proficiency (measured on the vertical axis) usually increases with increased experience (the ...
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
Scope or scopes may refer to:
People with the surname
* Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer
* John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution
Arts, media, and entertainment
* CinemaS ...
.
The second explanation was offered in 1984 by Richard Pascale, who had interviewed the Honda executives responsible for the firm's entry into the US 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 US 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. For example, Honda's initial plan on entering the US market 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. When the team found that the scooters they were using to get themselves around their US base of San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
attracted positive interest from consumers they fell back on selling the Super Cub instead.
The most recent school of thought on Honda's strategy was put forward by Gary Hamel
Gary P. Hamel (born November 9, 1954) is an American management consultant. He is a founder of Strategos, an international management consulting firm based in Chicago.
Education
Hamel was born on November 9, 1954, in St. Joseph, Michigan. He ...
and C. K. Prahalad
Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad (8 August 1941 – 16 April 2010) was an Indian-American entrepreneur and author.
Personal life
He was born to a stay at home mother and a father who was a judge. He is married to a woman named Gayatri, an ...
in 1989. Creating the concept of core competencies
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), t ...
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. 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 US motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a case study
A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular f ...
for teaching introductory strategy at business school
A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...
s worldwide.
ATVs
Honda builds utility ATVs
ATV may refer to:
Broadcasting
* Amateur television
*Analog television
Television broadcaster
* Andorra Televisió
* Anguilla Television
* Ayna TV, Afghanistan
* ATV (Armenia)
* ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate
* ATV (Australian TV station), Melbo ...
under models Recon, Rubicon, Rancher, Foreman and Rincon. Honda also builds sports ATVs under the models TRX 90X, TRX 250X, TRX 400x, TRX 450R and TRX 700.
Power equipment
Power equipment production started in 1953 with H-type engine (prior to motorcycles).
Honda power equipment reached record sales in 2007 with 6.4 million units sold annually. By 2010 (Fiscal year
A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...
ended 31 March) this figure had decreased to 4.7 million units. Cumulative production of power products has exceeded 85 million units annually (as of September 2008).
In September 2023, Honda ceased sales of gasoline lawn mowers and some other power equipment in the US.
Honda power equipment includes:
Engines
Honda engines powered the entire 33-car starting field of the 2010 Indianapolis 500
The 94th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 2010. It was the 15th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was the premier event of the 2010 IndyCar Series season, 2010 ...
and for the fifth consecutive race, there were no engine-related retirements during the running of the Memorial Day Classic.
In the 1980s Honda developed the GY6 engine
The GY6 engine design is a four-stroke single-cylinder in a near-horizontal orientation that is used on a number of small motorcycles or scooters made in Taiwan, China, and other southeast Asian countries. It has since become a generic technology ...
for use in motor scooters. Although no longer manufactured by Honda, it's still commonly used in many Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese light vehicles.
Honda, despite being known as an engine company, has never built a V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
Origins
The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
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 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 ...
s), with American Honda reportedly sending one dealer a shipment of V8 beverages to silence them. 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 canceled in late 2008, with Honda citing environmental and worldwide economic conditions as reasons for the termination of this project.
Robots
ASIMO
ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is a humanoid robot created by Honda in 2000.
In 2002, there were 20 units of the first ASIMO model produced; three different ASIMO models subsequently followed. As of February 2009, there were over ...
is part of Honda's Research & Development robotics program. It's the eleventh in a line of successive builds starting in 1986 with Honda E0
The E series was a collection of successive humanoid robots created by the Honda Motor Company between the years of 1986 and 1993. These robots were only experimental, but later evolved into the Honda P series, with Honda eventually amassing the ...
moving through the ensuing Honda E series
The E series was a collection of successive humanoid robots created by the Honda Motor Company between the years of 1986 and 1993. These robots were only experimental, but later evolved into the Honda P series, with Honda eventually amassing the ...
and the Honda P series
The P series is a series of prototype humanoid robots developed by Honda between 1993 and 2000. They were preceded by the Honda E series (whose development was not revealed to the public at the time) and followed by the ASIMO series, then the worl ...
. Weighing 54 kilograms and standing 130 centimeters tall, ASIMO resembles a small astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
wearing a backpack, and can walk on two feet
Zachary William "Bill" Dess, (born June 21, 1993), known professionally as Two Feet, is an American singer, songwriter, and producer from New York City.
Education
He attended Tenafly High School in Tenafly, New Jersey.
Career
Dess used t ...
in a manner resembling human locomotion, at up to . ASIMO is the world's only humanoid robot able to ascend and descend stairs independently. 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.
ASIMO is able to walk, dance and navigate steps. In 2010, Honda developed a machine capable of reading a user's brainwaves to move ASIMO. The system uses a helmet covered with electroencephalography
Electroencephalography (EEG)
is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignal, bio signals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in ...
and near-infrared spectroscopy
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (from 780 nm to 2500 nm). Typical applications include medical and physiological diagnostics and research inc ...
sensors that monitor electrical brainwaves and cerebral blood flow signals that alter slightly during the human thought process. The user thinks of one of the limited number of gestures it wants from the robot, which has been fitted with a Brain-Machine Interface.
Aircraft
Honda has also pioneered new technology in its HA-420 HondaJet, manufactured by its subsidiary Honda Aircraft Company
Honda Aircraft Company is an aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, responsible for the production of the HondaJet family of aircraft. Originally a secret research project within Honda R&D, Honda Aircraft Company was ...
, which allows new levels of reduced drag, increased aerodynamics and fuel efficiency thus reducing operating costs.
Mountain bikes
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
A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
, which replaces the standard derailleur
Shimano 600 front derailleur (1980)
A derailleur () is a variable-ratio bicycle gearing system consisting of a chain, multiple sprockets of different sizes, and a mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another.
Modern front and rea ...
found on most bikes.
Honda has hired several people to pilot the bike, among them Greg Minnaar
Greg Minnaar (born 13 November 1981) is a South African World Champion Mountain bike racing, mountain bike racer competing in downhill cycling. He has won four world championships. Minnaar has the most men's world cup wins, with 23 career vict ...
. The team is known as Team G Cross Honda.
Former products
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
Thin-film solar cells are a type of solar cell made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin films or TFs) of photovoltaic material onto a substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal. Thin-film solar cells are typically a few nanometers ( nm ...
for public and industrial use on October 24, 2008, after selling solar cells for residential use in October 2007. Honda announced in the end of October 2013 that Honda Soltec would cease business operations in the Spring of 2014 except for support for existing customers and the subsidiary would be dissolved.
Motorsports
Honda has been active in motorsports, like Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
, MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
and others, since the early years of the company. Since 2022, Honda's general motorsport activities have been managed by its motorsport subsidiary Honda Racing Corporation
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), also known as Honda Racing, is a motorsport subsidiary of the Honda, Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. From its founding, the company was initially solely responsible for Honda's motorcycle racing activities, b ...
(HRC). Prior to 2022, Honda's motorcycle racing activities were run by HRC since it was founded in 1982, while its automobile racing activities were run as projects within the Honda Motor Company itself.
Honda Performance Development (HPD) was established in 1993 as the company's North American motorsport subsidiary, and for 2024 HPD became 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 ...
(HRC US) to form a global motorsports organization. Honda also owns two Japanese race track
A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...
s, the Suzuka Circuit
The , the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. It is most well known by i ...
and Mobility Resort Motegi
Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport venue located in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the venue's name came from the facility having two race ...
(formerly Twin Ring Motegi), which it established in 1962 and 1997, respectively, and which are managed by Honda Mobilityland.
Automobiles
Honda entered Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
for the first time in 1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
, just one year after starting the production of road cars, making both engine and chassis. Honda achieved their first victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix
The 1965 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City on October 24, 1965. It was race 10 of 10 in both the 1965 World Championship of Drivers and the 1965 International Cup for Formu ...
, and another win at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix, before they withdrew after the 1968 season. They returned to the sport in 1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
as an engine manufacturer, remaining until 1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
. This period saw Honda dominate Grand Prix racing, as between 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
** Spain and Portugal en ...
and 1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
they won five consecutive Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Piquet won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , , and , and won 23 ...
, Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...
and Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor", Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and� ...
, and six Constructors' titles with Williams and McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
. A third stint from 2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
to 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, initially as engine maker and later also as team owner, yielded 17 podiums, including one win, and second place in the 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
constructors' standings. They returned as a power unit supplier for the second year of the hybrid era in 2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
and initially struggled, but intense development saw them become race winners again by 2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, and in 2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
they won the World Drivers' Championship with Max Verstappen
Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...
and Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...
. Honda formally left Formula One after 2021 to focus its resources on carbon neutral
Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and Greenhouse gas removal, removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon diox ...
technologies, but an arrangement was made for it to extend power unit supply for Red Bull until 2025. As the series introduced more sustainable regulations, Honda announced it will formally rejoin in 2026 to provide power units to Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
as a works team.
Honda debuted in the CART IndyCar World Series as an engine supplier in 1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, and the company won six consecutive Drivers' Championships and four Manufacturers' Championships between 1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
and 2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
. In 2003, Honda transferred its effort to the IRL IndyCar Series. In 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, Honda won the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
for the first time and claimed the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships, a feat which it repeated in 2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
. From 2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
to 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, Honda was the series' lone manufacturer, before manufacturer competition returned for 2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
. Since 2012, Honda's turbocharged V6 engines have won the Indianapolis 500 several times as well as claimed multiple Drivers' and Manufacturers' titles. In the Japanese Super Formula Championship
The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The ...
, Honda-powered cars have won the championship numerous times since 1981, with their title tally in the double digits. In Formula Two
Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...
, Honda engines dominated the premier series in 1966 and scored multiple titles in the early 1980s.
In sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...
, Honda won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
in 1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
in the GT2 class, and in 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and 2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
they won in the LMP2 category. Honda made their factory debut in the Super GT Series (previously known as the All-Japan GT Championship
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...
) in 1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
, and in 2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
they won their first championships. Since then, they have won several further titles, uniquely with both mid- and front-engined cars. Through their 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 ...
and HPD divisions, Honda has also competed in sports prototype
A sports prototype, sometimes referred to simply as a prototype, is a type of Auto racing, race car that is used in high-level categories of sports car racing. They are purpose-built auto-sports race cars, as opposed to production-car based or s ...
racing, beginning with the Spice-Acura prototypes that won the IMSA GT
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.
History
The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill Fr ...
Lights championship in 1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
, 1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
and 1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
. Acura joined the American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
in 2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
and won the 12 Hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...
in class on their debut, before winning the championship in both the LMP1 and LMP2 classes in 2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
. The cars were rebranded as HPDs for 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, after which they won multiple titles in the ALMS and also won the FIA World Endurance Championship
The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...
in the LMP2 class. Acura returned to prototype racing in 2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
in the DPi class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...
, winning championship titles in 2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, 2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
and 2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...
overall in 2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
, 2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, and 2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
. Honda's GT3 car won both the IMSA GTD and Super GT GT300 titles.
During the Group A
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...
era of the Japanese Touring Car Championship
The Japanese Touring Car Championship (abbr: 1985–1993: JTC, 1994–1998: JTCC, officially known as All Japan Touring Car Championship, ) was a former touring car racing series held in Japan. The series was held under various regulations during ...
, Honda won seven manufacturers' titles and six drivers' titles in the sub-1,600 cc division between 1986 and 1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
. The following Super Touring
Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a auto racing, motor racing touring car category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Form ...
era of touring car racing
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not move a ...
saw Honda win the Japanese and North American
North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...
championships in 1996 and 1997, while in Europe Honda's Super Touring cars claimed over 40 wins across the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
, German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
series. After the collapse of the Super Touring regulations in the early 2000s, Honda remained involved in the British Touring Car Championship, where their cars would win multiple championships in the mid-2000s and throughout the 2010s. Honda entered the World Touring Car Championship
The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...
in late 2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, and in 2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
they won the Manufacturers' World Championship. Honda's TCR car won the global TCR Model of the Year award in 2019, 2020, and 2024.
Motorcycles
HRC combines participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of high-potential racing machines. Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of leading-edge technologies used in the development of Honda motorcycles. HRC also contributes to the advancement of motorcycle sports through a range of activities that include sales of production racing motorcycles, support for satellite teams, and rider education programs.
Soichiro Honda, being a race driver himself, could not stay out of international motorsport
Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...
. In 1959, Honda entered five motorcycles into the Isle of Man TT
The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...
race, the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world. While always having powerful engines, it took until 1961 for Honda to tune their chassis well enough to allow Mike Hailwood
Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...
to claim their first Grand Prix
( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to:
* Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition
** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship
*** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...
victories in the 125 and 250 cc classes. Hailwood would later pick up their first Senior TT wins in 1966 and 1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
. Honda's race bikes were known for their "sleek & stylish design" and exotic engine configurations, such as the 5-cylinder, 22,000 rpm, 125 cc bike and their 6-cylinder 250 cc and 297 cc bikes.
In 1979, Honda returned to Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
with the monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
-framed, four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
NR500
NR500 was a racing motorcycle developed by Honda HRC in 1979 to compete in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. "NR" stands for "New Racing".
Model history
The motivation behind the NR500 was company founder Soichiro Honda's desire to compete using ...
. The FIM
FIM may refer to:
Organizations and companies
* Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation
* Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States
* Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media
* ...
rules limited engines to four cylinders, so the NR500 had non-circular, 'race-track', cylinders, each with 8 valves and two connecting rods, in order to provide sufficient valve area to compete with the dominant two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...
racers. The experiment failed. For the 1982 season, Honda debuted its first two-stroke race bike, the NS500 and in , Honda won their first 500 cc Grand Prix
( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to:
* Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition
** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship
*** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...
World Championship with Freddie Spencer
Frederick Burdette Spencer (born December 20, 1961), is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships between 1980 and 1993, most prominently as a member of the Ho ...
. Since then, Honda has become a dominant marque in motorcycle Grand Prix racing, winning a plethora of top-level titles with riders such as Mick Doohan
Michael Sydney Doohan ( ; born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions, World Champion, who won five consecutive List of 500cc/Mo ...
and Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi ( ; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed "the Doctor", Rossi is widely considered one of the greate ...
. Honda also head the number of wins at the Isle of Man TT
The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...
having notched up 227 victories in the solo classes and Sidecar TT
The Sidecar TT is a motorcycle-with-sidecar road racing, road race competition held over two legs which takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1954 and 1976 this race was p ...
, including Ian Hutchinson's clean sweep at the 2010 races.
The outright lap record on the Snaefell Mountain Course
The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and Road racing, public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''T ...
was held by Honda, set at the 2015 TT by John McGuinness at an average speed of on a Honda CBR1000RR
The Honda CBR1000RR, marketed in some countries with the Fireblade suffix (capitalized as FireBlade until the 2000s), is a sport bike produced by Honda since 2004 as the seventh generation of the Honda CBR series, CBR Honda Fireblade, Fireblade s ...
, bettered the next year by Michael Dunlop
Michael Dunlop (born 10 April 1989) is a Northern Irish professional motorcycle road racer and the record holder for the number of wins and podiums at the prestigious Isle of Man TT, having amassed a total of 33 victories and having stood o ...
on a BMW S1000RR
BMW S1000RR is a race orientated sport bike initially made by BMW Motorrad to compete in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, that is now in commercial production. It was introduced in Munich in April 2008, and is powered by a Inline-four engi ...
at .
In the Motocross World Championship
The FIM Motocross World Championship is the premier championship of motocross racing, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), divided into two distinct classes: MXGP and MX2. Race duration is 30 minutes plus two laps ...
, Honda has claimed seventeen world championships. In the World Enduro Championship
The FIM Enduro World Championship, formerly known as the World Enduro Championship, is the world championship series for enduro, a popular form of off-road motorcycle sport. The championship currently features three classes (E1, E2 and E3), along ...
, Honda has captured eight titles, most recently with Stefan Merriman
Stefan William Merriman (born 24 March 1973 in Tauranga, New Zealand) is a former professional motorcycle trials and enduro rider. He won the World Enduro Championship in 2000 (250cc), 2001 (400cc), 2003 (250cc), and 2004 (Enduro 1).
Career
Mer ...
in 2003 and with Mika Ahola
Mika Ahola (13 December 1974 – 15 January 2012) was a Finnish enduro rider and a five-time world champion. He was also a seven-time winner of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) World Trophy with Team Finland, and was the fastest overall ...
from 2007 to 2010. In motorcycle trials
Motorcycle trials, also known as observed trials, often called simply trial or trials, is a non-speed event on specialized motorcycles. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom and Spain, though there are participants around the globe.
Mo ...
, Honda has claimed three world championships with Belgian rider Eddy Lejeune
Eddy Lejeune (born 4 April 1961), is a Belgian former International motorcycle trials rider and 1982, 1983 and 1984 FIM Trial World Championship title holder. Lejeune was also a seven-time Belgian Trials National Champion.
Biography
Born in Ve ...
.
Electric and alternative fuel vehicles
Compressed natural gas
The Honda Civic GX
The Honda Civic GX is the only car factory-built to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) in the United States available to non-fleet customers. The GX was based on the Honda Civic and available for fleet sales in all 50 states. It was previou ...
was for a long time the only purpose-built natural gas vehicle
A natural gas vehicle (NGV) utilizes compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative fuel source. Distinguished from autogas vehicles fueled by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), NGVs rely on methane combustion, res ...
(NGV) commercially available in some parts of the US. The Honda Civic GX first appeared in 1998 as a factory-modified Civic LX that had been designed to run exclusively on compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...
. The car looks and drives just like a contemporary 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 ...
LX, but does not run on gasoline. In 2001, the Civic GX was rated the cleanest-burning internal combustion engine in the world by the US Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
(EPA).
First leased to the City of Los Angeles, in 2005, Honda started offering the GX directly to the public through factory trained dealers certified to service the GX. Before that, only fleets were eligible to purchase a new Civic GX. In 2006, the Civic GX was released in New York, making it the second state where the consumer is able to buy the car.
In June 2015, Honda announced its decision to phase out the commercialization of natural-gas powered vehicles to focus on the development of a new generation of electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s such as hybrids, plug-in electric car
A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity (such as a wall socket that connects to the power grid) via an detachable power cable to store electrical energy within its onboard recharg ...
s and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle
A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate el ...
s. Since 2008, Honda has sold about 16,000 natural-gas vehicles, mainly to taxi and commercial fleets.
Flexible-fuel
Honda's Brazilian subsidiary launched flexible-fuel
A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol o ...
versions for the 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 ...
and Honda Fit
The Honda Fit ( Japanese: ホンダ・フィット, Hepburn: ''Honda Fitto'') or Honda Jazz is a small car manufactured and marketed by Honda since 2001 over four generations. It has a five-door hatchback body style and is considered a super ...
in late 2006. As other Brazilian flex-fuel vehicles, these models run on any blend of hydrous
In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understo ...
ethanol ( E100) and E20-E25 gasoline. Initially, and in order to test the market preferences, the carmaker decided to produce a limited share of the vehicles with flex-fuel engines, 33 percent of the Civic production and 28 percent of the Fit models. Also, the sale price for the flex-fuel version was higher than the respective gasoline versions, around US$1,000 premium for the Civic, and US$650 for the Fit, despite the fact that all other flex-fuel vehicles sold in Brazil had the same tag price as their gasoline versions. In July 2009, Honda launched in the Brazilian market its third flexible-fuel car, the Honda City
The is a sedan car which has been produced by the Japanese manufacturer Honda since 1981.
The City was originally a 3-door hatchback/2-door convertible for the Japanese, European and Australasian markets. The 3-door City was retired in 1994 a ...
.
During the last two months of 2006, both flex-fuel models sold 2,427 cars against 8,546 gasoline-powered automobiles, jumping to 41,990 flex-fuel cars in 2007, and reaching 93,361 in 2008. Due to the success of the flex versions, by early 2009 a hundred percent of Honda's automobile production for the Brazilian market is now flexible-fuel, and only a small percentage of gasoline version is produced in Brazil for exports.
In March 2009, Honda introduced the world's first flex-fuel motorcycle in the Brazilian market. Manufactured by its Brazilian subsidiary, Moto Honda da Amazônia, the CG 150 Titan Mix is priced at approximately US$2,700.
Hybrid electric
In late 1999, Honda launched the first commercial hybrid electric car
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
sold in the US market, the Honda Insight
The is a hybrid electric vehicle that is manufactured and marketed by Honda. Its first generation was a two-door, two passenger liftback (1999–2006) and in its second generation was a four-door, five passenger liftback (2009–2014). In it ...
, just one month before the introduction of the Toyota Prius
The is a Compact car, compact/small family car, small family liftback (supermini/subcompact sedan (car), sedan until 2003) produced by Toyota. The Prius has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combined with an internal combustion ...
, and initially sold for US$20,000.[ The first-generation Insight was produced from 2000 to 2006 and had a fuel economy of for the EPA's highway rating, the most fuel-efficient mass-produced car at the time.][ Total global sales for the Insight amounted to only around 18,000 vehicles.] Cumulative global sales reached 100,000 hybrids in 2005 and 200,000 in 2007.[
Honda introduced the second-generation Insight in Japan in February 2009, and released it in other markets through 2009 and in the US market in April 2009. At $19,800 as a five-door hatchback it will be the least expensive hybrid available in the US.
]
Since 2002, Honda has also been selling the Honda Civic Hybrid
The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Accord in Honda's global passenger car line-up.
The first-generation Civic was introduced in July 1972 as a two-do ...
(2003 model) in the US market. It was followed by the Honda Accord Hybrid
The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States sinc ...
, offered in model years 2005 through 2007. Sales of the Honda CR-Z
The Honda CR-Z is a sport compact hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by Honda and marketed as a "sport hybrid coupe." It combines a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain with features typical of a sports car, including a standard six-speed manua ...
began in Japan in February 2010, becoming Honda's third hybrid electric car in the market. , Honda was producing around 200,000 hybrids a year in Japan.
Sales of the Fit Hybrid began in Japan in October 2010, at the time, the lowest price for a gasoline-hybrid electric vehicle sold in the country. The European version, called Honda Jazz Hybrid, was released in early 2011. During 2011 Honda launched three hybrid models available only in Japan, the Fit Shuttle Hybrid, Freed Hybrid and Freed Spike Hybrid.[
Honda's cumulative global hybrid sales passed the 1 million unit milestone at the end of September 2012, 12 years and 11 months after sales of the first generation Insight began in Japan November 1999.] A total of 187,851 hybrids were sold worldwide in 2013, and 158,696 hybrids during the first six months of 2014.[ ''Honda sold 187,851 hybrids in 2013''.][ ''Honda sold 158,696 hybrids during the first six months of 2014''.] , Honda has sold more than 1.35 million hybrids worldwide.[
]
Hydrogen fuel cell
In Takanezawa, Japan, on 16 June 2008, Honda Motors produced the first assembly-line FCX Clarity
The Honda Clarity is a nameplate used by Honda on alternative fuel vehicles. It was initially used only on hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles such as the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity, but in 2017 the nameplate was expanded to include the battery-elec ...
, a hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
fuel cell vehicle
A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate el ...
. More efficient than a gas-electric hybrid vehicle, the FCX Clarity combines hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
and oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
from ordinary air to generate electricity for an electric motor. In July 2014 Honda announced the end of production of the Honda FCX Clarity for the 2015 model.
The vehicle itself does not emit any pollutants
A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effect, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oi ...
and its only by-products are heat and water. The FCX Clarity also has an advantage over gas-electric hybrids in that it does not use an internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
to propel itself. Like a gas-electric hybrid, it uses a lithium ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy d ...
to assist the fuel cell during acceleration and capture energy through regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy or potential energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed.
Typically, regenerativ ...
, thus improving fuel efficiency. The lack of hydrogen filling stations throughout developed countries will keep production volumes low. Honda will release the vehicle in groups of 150. California is the only US market with infrastructure for fueling such a vehicle, though the number of stations is still limited. Building more stations is expensive, as the California Air Resources Board
The California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) is an agency of the government of California that aims to reduce air pollution. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air S ...
(CARB) granted $6.8 million for four H2 fueling stations, costing US$1.7 million each.
Honda views hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the long-term replacement of piston cars, not battery cars.
Honda introduced the CR-V e:FCEV in February 2024 in the US. It is a plug-in hybrid fuel cell version of the CR-V that is equipped with an electric motor, two high-pressure hydrogen tank
A hydrogen infrastructure is the infrastructure of points of hydrogen production, truck and pipeline transport, and hydrogen stations for the distribution and sale of hydrogen fuel, and thus a crucial prerequisite before a successful commerciali ...
s with a total capacity of and a 17.7 kWh battery with plug-in charging capability. It was also launched in Japan as the only version of the CR-V sold in the country, imported from the Marysville, Ohio assembly plant in the US. This model began production on 5 June 2024. The later revealed to includes an H2 credit.
Plug-in electric vehicles
The all-electric Honda EV Plus
The Honda EV Plus was an experimental electric vehicle which was the first battery electric vehicle from a major automaker that did not use lead–acid batteries. Roughly 340 EV Plus models were produced and released. Production of the EV Plus wa ...
was introduced in 1997 as a result of CARB
The California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) is an agency of the government of California that aims to reduce air pollution. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air S ...
's zero-emissions vehicle
A zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) is a vehicle that does not emit exhaust gas or other pollutants from the onboard source of power. The California definition also adds that this includes under any and all possible operational modes and conditions. T ...
mandate and was available only for leasing in California. The EV plus was the first battery electric vehicle
A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-boa ...
from a major automaker with non- lead–acid batteries The EV Plus had an all-electric range
All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of a Battery electric vehicle (BEV), it means the maximum range per rech ...
of . Around 276 units were sold in the US and production ended in 1999.
The all-electric Honda Fit EV
The second generation Honda Fit is a subcompact car or supermini manufactured by Honda from 2007 until 2014. It debuted on 17 October 2007 at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show.
__TOC__
Overview
The vehicle offered a longer wheelbase than its pred ...
was introduced in 2012 and has a range of . The all-electric car
An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...
was launched in the US to retail customers in July 2012 with initial availability limited to California and Oregon. Production is limited to only 1,100 units over the first three years. A total of 1,007 units have been leased in the US through September 2014.[ ''See the section: December 2012 Plug-in Electric Car Sales Numbers''] The Fit EV was released in Japan through leasing to local government and corporate customers in August 2012. Availability in the Japanese market is limited to 200 units during its first two years. In July 2014 Honda announced the end of production of the Fit EV for the 2015 model.[
The Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid was introduced in 2013 and has an ]all-electric range
All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of a Battery electric vehicle (BEV), it means the maximum range per rech ...
of Sales began in the US in January 2013 and the plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...
is available only in California and New York. A total of 835 units have been sold in the US through September 2014.[ The Accord PHEV was introduced in Japan in June 2013 and is available only for leasing, primarily to corporations and government agencies.
The ]Honda e
The Honda e is a battery electric car that was manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda and sold in Japan from 2020 to 2024 and in Europe from 2020 to 2023. It is a supermini with a five-door hatchback design and a battery-electric vehicle, ba ...
was launched in 2020 and has an electric range
An electric stove, electric cooker or electric range is a stove with an integrated electrical heating device to cook and bake. Electric stoves became popular as replacements for solid-fuel (wood or coal) stoves which required more labor to oper ...
of . It is an electric supermini that is retro styled, similar to the first-generation Honda Civic. Following this, the Honda e:Ny1 was launched in 2023, with an electric range
An electric stove, electric cooker or electric range is a stove with an integrated electrical heating device to cook and bake. Electric stoves became popular as replacements for solid-fuel (wood or coal) stoves which required more labor to oper ...
of on the top spec model. It is Honda's first electric SUV.
In April 2022, Honda and General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
announced a joint venture to develop low-cost electric vehicles based on GM's Ultium
Ultium is an electric vehicle battery and Electric motor, motor architecture developed by General Motors. It is being deployed for battery electric vehicles from General Motors portfolio brands along with vehicles from Honda and Acura.
Ultium ...
architecture in order to beat Tesla vehicles in sales.
In October 2023, the two companies announced that the joint venture has been cancelled due to slower-than-expected demand of electric vehicles and changing market conditions. Although the upcoming Honda Prologue
The Honda Prologue is a battery electric mid-size crossover SUV jointly developed by Honda and General Motors that is marketed in North America. Announced in October 2022 with sales starting in March 2024, it is Honda's first major electric v ...
and Acura ZDX
The Acura ZDX is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV with a sloping rear roofline developed by Honda for its upmarket brand Acura. The car was originally planned to be called the "MSX". The ZDX debuted at the 2009 New York International Auto Show ...
will use the Ultium architecture and will be manufactured by General Motors, future Honda electric vehicles will be designed solely by Honda and will be manufactured in Honda assembly plants.
Batteries
In August 2022, Honda and LG Energy Solution revealed a joint venture to establish a new lithium-ion battery factory in the United States, specifically for Honda and Acura electric vehicles. The initial goal was to produce 40 gigawatt hours of battery capacity.
Marketing
Japanese marketing
Starting in 1978, Honda in Japan decided to diversify its sales distribution channels and created Honda Verno, which sold established products with a higher content of standard equipment and more sporting nature. The establishment of ''Honda Verno'' coincided with its new sports compact, the Honda Prelude
The is a sport compact car produced by the Japanese company Honda. It was once produced over five generations from 1978 to 2001. It is planned to be reintroduced in 2025.
For the first five generations, as a two-door coupe loosely derived from ...
. Later, the Honda Vigor
The is a premium sedan that was derived from the Honda Accord. It was sold in Japan through the '' Honda Verno'' dealer network from 1981 until 1995, and sold in North America from June 1991 (model year 1992) until 1994 as the Acura Vigor. Early ...
, Honda Ballade
The is a subcompact automobile built by Honda of Japan. It began as a four-door higher equipment content version of the Civic in 1980. The Ballade was developed at the same time the Honda Vigor appeared, which was a higher content Honda Accord. ...
, and Honda Quint
The Honda Quint is a subcompact car manufactured by Honda in Japan from 1980 until 1985. It was introduced in February 1980 in Japan as a five-door liftback version of the Honda Civic, being more upscale than the Civic, and was sold at the '' H ...
were added to ''Honda Verno'' stores. This approach was implemented due to efforts in place by rival Japanese automakers Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
and Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
.
As sales progressed, Honda created two more sales channels, called Honda Clio in 1984, and Honda Primo in 1985. The ''Honda Clio'' chain sold products that were traditionally associated with Honda dealerships before 1978, like the Honda Accord
The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States sinc ...
, and ''Honda Primo'' sold the 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 ...
, kei car
Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese expressway-legal motor vehicles. The term ''kei'' is a shortening of , (kanji: ), which translates to English as "light vehicle" ().
With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners ...
s such as the Honda Today
The is a kei car produced by Japanese automaker Honda beginning in 1985. It was replaced by the Honda Life in 1998.
The Today represented Honda's reentry into kei car production. Honda had abandoned kei passenger cars in 1975, choosing only to k ...
, supermini
The B-segment is the second smallest of the European segments for passenger cars between the A-segment and C-segment, and commonly described as "small cars". The B-segment is the third largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 15. ...
s like the Honda Capa
The Honda Capa, short for "capacity", is a tall wagon produced by Honda between 1998 and 2002 for the Japanese market. It was introduced at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show as the concept car "J-MW." It went on sale on April 24, 1998, with Honda series c ...
, along with other Honda products, such as farm equipment, lawnmowers, portable generators, and marine equipment, plus motorcycles and scooters like the Honda Super Cub
The Honda Super Cub (or Honda Cub) is a Honda underbone motorcycle with a four-stroke engine, four-stroke single cylinder engine, single-cylinder engine ranging in engine displacement, displacement from .
In continuous manufacture since 1958 wit ...
. A styling tradition was established when ''Honda Primo'' and ''Clio'' began operations in that all ''Verno'' products had the rear license plate installed in the rear bumper, while ''Primo'' and ''Clio'' products had the rear license plate installed on the trunk lid or rear door for minivans. The Renault Clio
The Renault Clio () is a supermini (B-segment) car, produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consi ...
was sold in Japan at Nissan dealerships, but was renamed the Renault Lutecia. Lutecia is derived from the name of ''Lutetia
Lutetia, ( , ; ) also known as and ( ; ; ), was a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallo–Roman town and the predecessor of modern-day Paris. Traces of an earlier Neolithic settlement () have been found nearby, and a larger settlement was established ...
'', an ancient Roman city that was the predecessor of Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
As time progressed and sales began to diminish partly due to the collapse of the Japanese "bubble economy", "supermini" and "kei" vehicles that were specific to ''Honda Primo'' were "badge engineered
In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...
" and sold at the other two sales channels, thereby providing smaller vehicles that sold better at both ''Honda Verno'' and ''Honda Clio'' locations. As of March 2006, the three sales chains were discontinued, with the establishment of ''Honda Cars'' dealerships. While the network was disbanded, some Japanese Honda dealerships still use the network names, offering all Japanese market Honda cars at all locations.
Honda sells genuine accessories through a separate retail chain called '' Honda Access'' for both their motorcycle, scooter, and automobile products. In cooperation with corporate group
A corporate group, company group or business group, also formally known as a group of companies, is a collection of parent and subsidiary corporations that function as a single economic entity through a common source of control. These types of gr ...
partner Pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community.
A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...
, Honda sells an aftermarket line of audio and in-car navigation equipment that can be installed in any vehicle under the brand name Gathers
Gathers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Hank Gathers (1967–1990), American basketball player
* James Gathers (1930–2002), American sprinter
* Rico Gathers (born 1994), American basketball player
See also
* Mathers ...
, which is available at Honda Access locations as well as Japanese auto parts retailers, such as Autobacs
() is a retailer of Automotive industry, automotive parts and accessories based in Japan, with branches primarily in Asia and stores also located in France.
Etymology
Autobacs was given a backronym as follows, which reflects the products the c ...
. Buyers of used vehicles are directed to a specific Honda retail chain that sells only used vehicles called '' Honda Auto Terrace''.
In the spring of 2012, Honda in Japan introduced ''Honda Cars Small Store'' which is devoted to compact cars like the Honda Fit
The Honda Fit ( Japanese: ホンダ・フィット, Hepburn: ''Honda Fitto'') or Honda Jazz is a small car manufactured and marketed by Honda since 2001 over four generations. It has a five-door hatchback body style and is considered a super ...
, and '' kei'' vehicles like the Honda N-One
The (corporately styled as N-ONE) is a Retro-style automobile, retro styled kei car produced by Honda for the Japanese domestic market, Japanese market. It was previewed at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show#2011, Tokyo Motor Show and went on sale on ...
and Honda S660
The Honda S660 is a sports car in the ''kei'' class manufactured by the Japanese company Honda from 2015 until 2022. It is a two-seater with a targa top and a transverse mid-engine and rear-wheel-drive layout. It is the successor to the Honda ...
roadster.
All cars sold at Honda Verno
* Prelude, Integra, CR-X, Vigor, Saber
A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...
, Ballade, Quint, Crossroad, Honda Element, Element, Honda NSX, NSX, Honda HR-V, HR-V, Honda Mobilio Spike, Mobilio Spike, Honda S2000, S2000, CR-V
The Honda CR-V (A variant model is called Honda Breeze in China By GAC-Honda since 2019,The CR-V is still manufactured by Dongfeng Honda) is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda since 1995. Initial models of the C ...
, Honda That's, That's, Honda MDX, MDX, Honda Rafaga, Rafaga, Honda Capa, Capa, and the Honda Torneo, Torneo
All cars sold at :ja:クリオ店, Honda Clio
*Honda Accord, Accord, Honda Legend, Legend, Honda Inspire, Inspire, Honda Avancier (station wagon), Avancier, Honda S-MX, S-MX, Honda Odyssey (North America), Lagreat, Honda Stepwgn, Stepwgn, Honda Elysion, Elysion, Honda Stream, Stream, Honda Odyssey (international), Odyssey (int'l), Honda Domani, Domani, Honda Concerto, Concerto, Honda Accord Tourer, Accord Tourer, Honda Logo, Logo, Fit, Insight
Insight is the understanding of a specific causality, cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings:
*a piece of information
*the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of se ...
, Honda That's, That's, Honda Mobilio, Mobilio, and the Honda City, City
All cars sold at :ja:プリモ店, Honda Primo
* Honda Civic, Civic, Honda Life, Life, Honda Acty, Acty, Honda Vamos, Vamos, Honda Vamos, Hobio, Honda Ascot, Ascot, Honda Ascot#Ascot Innova (CB3/4), Ascot Innova, Honda Torneo, Torneo, Honda Civic Ferio, Civic Ferio, Honda Freed, Freed, Honda Mobilio, Mobilio, Honda Orthia, Orthia, Honda Capa, Capa, Honda Today, Today, Honda Z, Z, and the Honda Beat, Beat
International marketing
In 2003, Honda released its ''Cog (television commercial), Cog'' advertisement in the UK and on the Internet. To make the ad, the engineers at Honda constructed a Rube Goldberg Machine made entirely out of car parts from a Honda Accord (Japan and Europe seventh generation), Honda Accord Touring. To the chagrin of the engineers at Honda, all the parts were taken from two of only six hand-assembled Pre-production car, pre-production models of the Accord. The advertisement depicted a single cog which sets off a chain of events that ends with the Honda Accord moving and Garrison Keillor speaking the tagline, "Isn't it nice when things just... work?" It took 100 takes to create the ad.
Honda has done humor marketing such as its 1985 four-page "How to fit six Hondas in a two-car garage" print ad or "descending so low in a parking garage, they pass stalagmites and a Golem, Gollum-like figure."
In 2004, they produced the ''Grrr (advertisement), Grrr'' advert, usually immediately followed by a shortened version of the 2005 ''Impossible Dream'' advert. In December 2005, Honda released ''Impossible Dream (Honda advert), The Impossible Dream'' a two-minute panoramic advertisement filmed in New Zealand, Japan, and Argentina which illustrates the founder's dream to build performance vehicles. While singing the song "The Impossible Dream (The Quest), Impossible Dream", a man reaches for his racing helmet, leaves his trailer on a minibike, then rides a succession of vintage Honda vehicles: a motorcycle, then a car, then a powerboat, then goes over a waterfall only to reappear piloting a hot air balloon, with Garrison Keillor saying "I couldn't have put it better myself" as the song ends. The song is from the 1960s musical ''Man of La Mancha'', sung by Andy Williams.
In 2006, Honda released its ''Choir'' advertisement, for the UK and the internet. This had a 60-person choir who sang the car noises as the film of the Honda Civic is shown.
In the mid to late 2000s in the United States, during model close-out sales for the current year before the start of the new model year, Honda's advertising has had an animated character known simply as Mr. Opportunity, voiced by Rob Paulsen. The casual-looking man talked about various deals offered by Honda and ended with the phrase "I'm Mr. Opportunity, and I'm knockin, followed by him "knocking" on the television screen or "thumping" the speaker at the end of radio ads. In addition, commercials for Honda's international hatchback, the Jazz, are parodies of well-known pop culture images such as ''Tetris'' and Thomas the Tank Engine.
In late 2006, Honda released an ad with ASIMO
ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is a humanoid robot created by Honda in 2000.
In 2002, there were 20 units of the first ASIMO model produced; three different ASIMO models subsequently followed. As of February 2009, there were over ...
exploring a museum, looking at the exhibits with almost childlike wonderment (spreading out its arms in the aerospace exhibit, waving hello to an astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
suit that resembles him, etc.), while Garrison Keillor ruminates on progress. It concludes with the tagline: "More forwards please". Honda also sponsored ITV Sport, ITV's coverage of Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
in the UK for 2007. However, they had announced that they would not continue in 2008 due to the sponsorship price requested by ITV being too high.
In May 2007, focuses on their strengths in racing and the use of the Red H badge – a symbol of what is termed as "Hondamentalism". The campaign highlights the lengths that Honda engineers go to in order to get the most out of an engine, whether it is for bikes, cars, powerboats – even lawnmowers. Honda released its Hondamentalism campaign. In the TV spot, Garrison Keillor says, "An engineer once said to build something great is like swimming in honey", while Honda engineers in white suits walk and run towards a great light, battling strong winds and flying debris, holding on to anything that will keep them from being blown away. Finally one of the engineers walks towards a red light, his hand outstretched. A web address is shown for the Hondamentalism website. The digital campaign aims to show how visitors to the site share many of the Hondamentalist characteristics.
At the beginning of 2008, Honda released – the ''Problem Playground''. The advert outlines Honda's environmental responsibility, demonstrating a hybrid engine, more efficient solar panels, and the FCX Clarity, a hydrogen-powered car. The 90-second advert has large-scale puzzles, involving Rubik's Cubes, large shapes, and a 3-dimensional puzzle. On 29 May 2008, Honda, in partnership with Channel 4, broadcast a live advertisement. It showed skydivers jumping from an airplane over Spain and forming the letters H, O, N, D, and A in mid-air. This live advertisement is generally agreed to be the first of its kind on British television. The ad lasted three minutes.
In 2009, American Honda released the ''Dream the Impossible'' documentary series, a collection of 5- to 8-minute web vignettes that focus on the core philosophies of Honda. Current short films include ''Failure: The Secret to Success'', ''Kick Out the Ladder'' and ''Mobility 2088''. They have Honda employees as well as Danica Patrick, Christopher Guest, Ben Bova, Chee Pearlman, Joe Johnston and Orson Scott Card. The film series plays at dreams.honda.com. In the UK, national television ads feature voice-overs from American radio host Garrison Keillor, while in the US the voice of Honda commercials is actor and wrestler John Cena.
In the North American market, Honda starts all of its commercials with a two-tone jingle since the mid-2010s.
Sports
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...
, the late F1 driver, once remarked that Honda played a pivotal role in his three world championships. He held deep respect for the company's founder, Soichiro Honda, and maintained a strong relationship with Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the chairman of Honda at the time. Senna even referred to Honda as "the greatest company in the world."
As part of its marketing campaign, Honda is an official partner and sponsor of the North American National Hockey League, the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, and the arena named after it: Honda Center. Honda also sponsored The Honda Classic golf tournament in the United States until 2023 and is a sponsor of the United States Major League Soccer. The "Honda Player of the Year" award is presented in United States soccer. The "Honda Sports Award" is given to the best female athlete in each of twelve college sports in the United States. One of the twelve Honda Sports Award winners is chosen to receive the Honda-Broderick Cup, as "Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year."
Honda sponsored La Liga club Valencia CF starting from 2014–15 La Liga, 2014–15 season.
Honda has been a presenting sponsor of the Los Angeles Marathon since 2010 in a three-year sponsorship deal, with winners of the LA Marathon receiving a free Honda Accord
The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States sinc ...
. Since 1989, the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge has been a quiz bowl tournament for Historically black colleges and universities.
Facilities (partial list)
Sales
Production numbers
For automobiles:
See also
* Comparison of Honda water-pumps
* Honda advanced technology
* Honda Airport
* Honda Battle of the Bands
* Honda G-Con
* Honda F.C., football (soccer) club
* Honda Heat, rugby union club
* Honda in motorsport
* 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 ...
* Honda Type R
* List of Honda assembly plants
* List of Honda transmissions
* List of motor scooter manufacturers and brands
References
Sources
* "Move Over, Volvo: Honda Sets New Safety Standard for Itself", an article in the "News" section of the March 2004 issue of ''Motor Trend
''Motor Trend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949.
Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''Motor Trend'' until 1998, when it was sold ...
'', on page (paper), page 32
*
* The story of Honda's entry and growth in the American market is documented in Terry Sanders' film The Japan Project: Made in Japan
Honda
Honda's Midlife Crisis: Honda's slipping market position and views of Fukui Takeo (Chief Executive magazine, December 2005 issue)
Honda's Corporate History
External links
*
*
Honda Press Library
(Japanese, but with graphical timelines of car and bike models)
* Wiki collection of bibliographic works on Honda
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