Honda – Company history:
Soichiro Honda began by manufacturing piston Rings in November 1937. He quickly became a Sub Contractor to Toyota, and then expanded to other engine parts.
On 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 & Fuel, but still in need of Basic Transport. Honda utilizing his manufacturing facilities attached an engine to a bicycle, creating the Cheap and Efficient Transport that was required.
The Honda Piston Manufacturing facilities were almost destroyed. Soichiro Honda created a new company with what he had left, giving it the unusual name of “Honda Given Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha” which translates to “Honda Research Institute Co. LTD.” Despite its grandiose name, the first facility bearing that name was a wooden shack where Mr. Honda and associates would fit Engines to Bicycles. Interestingly the official Japanese Name for Honda Motor Co. remains the same, in honor of Soichiro Hondas efforts.
Honda quickly 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 producers of Motorcycles in the World.
Honda began producing road Cars in 1960, mostly intended for the Japanese Market. Though participating in the international Motorsport Honda was having difficulty selling its automobiles in the United States. Build 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 economics. New emissions laws in the US, requiring American car makers to affix expensive catalytic converters to exhaust systems, noticeably increased striker 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 the Accord plant in Marysville, Ohio. They now have plants in Marysville, Anna, and East Liberty, as well as in Lincoln, Alabama (Honda Manufacturing of Alabama), and Timmonsville South Carolina, and plan to open a new plant in Tallapoosa, Georgia. Honda’s North American and US head quarters are located in Torrance, California. Honda’s Canadian Civics is manufactured in their plant in Alliston, Ontario since 1985.
Honda was also 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 that their Honda Counter Parts.
1989 saw a move that was set to revolutionalize the way car makers tuned their engines. Honda launched their VTEC variable valve timing system in its production car engines., which gave improved efficiency and performance across a border range of engine speeds. one of the first of its kind is passenger vehicles, it worked on premise of tuning one engine to operate at 2 different settings depending on load. Normal driving would use a ‘shorter’ cam lobe that resulted in more efficient operation. A more aggressive, longer duration can engages when engine RPM reaches a set point resulting in more power during hard acceleration. The driver gets the best of both worlds; high efficiency and high power on demand. Many automakers have introduced their own versions of variable valve timing. The technology is
Now standard across the whole Honda Range.
For the 2007 model year, Honda plans to improve the safety of its vehicles by providing front seat side air bags, side-curtain airbags, and anti lock brakes as standard equipment in all automobiles available in North America (except the Insight, S2000, and Acura NSX, which will not have side curtain air bags). By 2006, Honda plans to have a 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 brake away wiper pivots.
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