Introduction

Established in 1948 in Tokyo, the Japanese giant Honda Motor Company makes automobiles, motorcycles, power equipment, robots, engines, mountains bikes etc. It is the sixth largest automobile manufacturer and the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. It ranks second in Japan and fourth in US as an automobile manufacturer. With the 1986 Honda Accura, it became the first Japanese car manufacturer to deliver a dedicated luxury brand.

Though not unaffected by the recession of 2008, Honda registered sales revenue of US$120.27 billion in 2009.

Over the years, Honda has won innumerable awards from various industry bodies and magazines and also boasts a very high brand loyalty amongst consumers. The Honda CR-V, Pilot and Accord were recognised for “Best Resale Value” while the Honda Fit, Accord and Odyssey were given the "Best Residual Value Award". Meanwhile the Honda Civic has won the Car of the Year Awards from many magazines besides being Japan’s Car of the Year from 1972-1974. Honda has also been acknowledged for the safety and quality of their cars and production plants. In the list of top-ten fuel efficient cars released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, five cars are Honda models.

Soichiro Honda had a keen interest in automobiles from a young age and he pursued his childhood dreams by starting work as a mechanic at a car tuning shop. He then started working on a piston which he hoped would be taken up by Toyota. After his design was accepted by Toyota, he built a dedicated factory for the production of pistons. Unfortunately, the factory was destroyed in an earthquake. Honda had a knack of converting a problem into an opportunity; so when the gasoline shortage of World War II made him unable to use his car, he instead attached an engine to his bicycle whose success led to the establishment of the Honda Technical Research Institute where 2-cycle motorbikes began to be developed and manufactured. This sowed the seeds for the Honda Motor Company which became the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer by 1964.

Honda produced its first non-motorcycle vehicles in 1963: the T360 mini pick-up truck, and its first car, the S500 sports car.