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(, ), or simply called Honda is a Japanese manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, robots, jet engines and jets. However, as the name of the company in Japanese suggests, the company is often described as an engineering or engine company rather than a car company. Honda makes ATVs, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies. Honda's high-end line of cars are branded Acura in North America. With more than 14 million internal combustion engines built each year, Honda is the largest engine-maker in the world. In 2004, the company began to produce diesel motors, which were both very quiet whilst not requiring particulate filters to pass pollution standards. It is arguable, however, that the foundation of Honda's success is the motorcycle division. Honda is headquartered in Tokyo. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. American Honda Motor Co., is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough area of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Richmond Hill, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008. Honda of Canada Manufacturing is based in Alliston, Ontario.
Company history In September 24, 1948 the Honda Motor Co. was founded. Soichiro Honda took advantage of a gap in the Japanese market that was decimated by World War II, Japan was starved of money and fuel, but still in need of basic transport. Honda, utilizing his manufacturing facilities, attached an engine to a bicycle, creating a cheap and efficient transport. Soichiro Honda was a gifted mechanic, who after working at Art Shokai, developed his own design for piston rings in 1938, hoping to sell them to Toyota, who rejected his first design, but after two years of work and study, further refined them and earned a contract from Toyota. He constructed a new facility to supply Toyota, but soon after, during World War II, the Honda piston manufacturing facilities were almost completely destroyed. Soichiro Honda created a new company with what he had left, giving it the name "Honda Giken Kōgyō Kabushiki Kaisha" which translates to "Honda Research Institute Co. Ltd." Despite its grandiose name, the first facility bearing that name was a simple wooden shack where Mr. Honda and associates would fit engines to bicycles. Interestingly, the official Japanese name for Honda Motor Co. Ltd. remains the same, in honor of Soichiro Honda's efforts. in 1958 the American Honda Co. was founded. Honda began to produce a range of scooters and motorcycles and Soichiro Honda quickly recovered from the losses incurred during the war. By the late 1960s, Honda had conquered most world markets. The British were especially slow to respond to the Honda introduction of electric starters to motorcycles. By the 1970s, Honda was the largest producer of motorcycles in the world, a title it has never relinquished. Honda began producing road cars in 1960, mostly intended for the Japanese market. Though participating in international motorsport (see Racing), Honda was having difficulty selling its automobiles in the United States. Built for Japanese buyers, Honda's small cars had failed to gain the interest of American buyers. Honda finally established a foothold in the American market in 1972 with the introduction of the Civic—larger than their previous models, but still small compared to the typical American car—just as the 1970s energy crisis was impacting worldwide economies. New emissions laws in the US, requiring American car makers to affix expensive catalytic converters to exhaust systems, increased car prices. However, Honda's introduction of the 1975 Civic CVCC, CVCC being a variation on the stratified charge engine, allowed the Civic to pass emissions tests without a catalytic converter. In 1976, the Accord was immediately popular because of its economy and fun-to-drive nature; Honda had found its niche in the United States. In 1982, Honda was the first Japanese car manufacturer to build car plants in the US, starting with an Accord plant in Marysville, Ohio. They now have four plants located in Ohio: two in Marysville (the Marysville Auto Plant and the Marysville Motorcycle Plant), Anna, and East Liberty. They also have plants in Lincoln, Alabama (Honda Manufacturing of Alabama), and Timmonsville, South Carolina, and have recently (2006) opened a new plant in Tallapoosa, Georgia. Honda also has an extensive after market parts operation located in Marysville, Ohio, and a Research and Development facility in Raymond, Ohio. Honda's North American and U.S. headquarters are located in Torrance, California. Honda's Canadian and many US-market Civics are manufactured in their plant in Alliston, Ontario since 1986. On June 27, 2006, Honda announced that another vehicle assembly facility will be opening in North America, this time in Greensburg, Indiana. Its completion is expected in 2008. Honda was the first Japanese automaker to introduce a separate luxury line of vehicles. Created in 1986 and known as Acura, the line is made up of modified versions of Honda vehicles usually with more power and sportiness than their Honda counterparts. In 1989 Honda launched their VTEC variable valve timing system in its production car engines, which gave improved efficiency and performance across a broader range of engine speeds. One of the first of its kind in passenger vehicles, it worked on the premise of tuning one engine to operate at two different 'settings' depending on load. Normal driving would use a "shorter" cam lobe that resulted in more efficient operation. A more aggressive, longer duration, cam engages when engine RPM reaches a set point resulting in more power during hard acceleration. For the 2007 model year, Honda plans to improve the safety of its vehicles by providing front-seat side airbags, side-curtain airbags, and anti-lock brakes as standard equipment in all automobiles available in North America (except the Insight and S2000, which will not have side-curtain airbags). By 2006, Honda plans to have as standard equipment Vehicle Safety Assist and rollover sensors in all light trucks, including the CR-V, Odyssey, and Acura MDX. Honda also plans to make its vehicles safer for pedestrians, with more safely-designed hoods, hinges, frame constructs, and breakaway wiper pivots. Motorcycle
Automobile See also Honda F1 In 1963, Honda entered Formula One as a constructor, competing for the first time in 1964 at the German Grand Prix with Ronnie Bucknum at the wheel. 1965 saw the addition of Richie Ginther to the team, who scored Honda's first point at the Belgian Grand Prix, and Honda's first win at the Mexican Grand Prix. 1967 saw their next win at the Italian Grand Prix with John Surtees as their driver. In 1968, Jo Schlesser was killed in a Honda RA302 at the French Grand Prix. This racing tragedy, coupled with their commercial difficulties selling automobiles in the United States, prompted Honda to withdraw from all international motorsport that year. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Honda powered cars won six consecutive Formula One Constructors Championships. WilliamsF1 won the crown in 1986 and 1987. Team McLaren won the title in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. In 2003, Honda became an engine supplier to the Indy Racing League. In 2004, Honda-powered cars overwhelmingly dominated IRL, winning 14 of 16 IRL events, including the Indianapolis 500, and claimed the IRL Manufacturers' Championship, Drivers' Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. In 2006, Honda became the sole engine supplier for the IRL, including the Indianapolis 500. In the 2006 Indianapolis 500, for the first time in Indianapolis 500 history, the race was run without a single engine problem *. Also in 2006 Honda made a triumphant return to Formula One as a constructor, winning the Hungarian Grand Prix with driver Jenson Button. Strategy
Initiatives Although a relatively small manufacturer in terms of vehicle sales, Honda is the largest engine maker in the world. Honda has a number of firsts in many categories, including first motorcycle equipped with an airbag, as well as the first mid-size pickup truck with independent rear suspension (2006 Ridgeline). The 2006 Ridgeline is one of the first Uni-Body trucks produced (after the early 1980s Volkswagen Rabbit pick-up). Honda has also pioneered new technology in its HA-420 HondaJet that allows new levels of reduced drag, increased aerodynamics and fuel efficiency thus reducing operating costs. Honda's robot ASIMO (see below) as an R&D project brings together expertise to create a robot that walks, dances and navigates steps. Marketing Honda's official slogan is The Power of Dreams. In 2003, Honda released its 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 the Honda Accord. To the despair of the engineers at Honda, all the parts were taken from 2 of only 6 hand assembled preproduction models of the Accord. The ad 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 606 takes to get it perfect. In 2004, they produced the Hate Something advert, which is still shown on British television now, usually immediately followed by a shortened version of the 2005/2006 Impossible Dream advert. In 2006, Honda released its Choir advertisement, for the UK and the internet. This featured a 60-person choir who sang the car noises as film of the Honda Civic are shown. There is also a 2006 advertisement for Honda in general (not a specific product) where an impressively moustachioed man in racing leathers starts travelling on 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. One version of this is around two minutes long. The soundtrack is "The Impossible Dream" from the musical "Man Of La Mancha", sung by Andy Williams. In Australia, Honda advertised heavily during most motor racing telecasts, and were the official sponsor of the 2006 FIA Formula 1 telecast on broadcaster channel "Ten". But in a series of adverts promoting the history of Honda's racing heritage, Honda falsely claimed that Honda "built cars that won 72 Formula 1 Grand Prix" when in fact the bulk of those victories were claimed by Honda powered (engined) machines, with cars themselves designed and built by Lotus F1, Williams F1 and McLaren F1 teams respectively (see Honda F1). Several commercials throughout 2006 have also featured an animated character known simply as Mr. Opportunity. The casual looking man talks about various deals offered by Honda and ends with the phrase "I'm Mr. Opportunity, and I'm knockin'." As part of their marketing campaign, Honda is an official partner and sponsor of Major League Soccer. Robots ASIMO is the part of Honda's Research & Development robotics program. It is the eleventh in a line of successive builds, and BOOGER starting in 1986 with Honda E0 moving through the ensuing Honda E series and the Honda P series. Weighing 54 kilograms, ASIMO resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack, and can walk on two feet in a manner resembling human locomotion, at up to 6 km/h. See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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