Honda Company

2011-01-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959,^[3]^[4] as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year.^[5] Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer.^[6]^[7] As of August 2008^[update], Honda surpassed Chrysler as the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the United States.^[8] Honda is the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in the world.

Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, scheduled to be released in 2011. Honda spends about 5% of its revenues into R&D.^[9]

From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda (本田宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō) had a great interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at a Japanese tuning shop, Art Shokai, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. A self-taught engineer, he later worked on a piston design which he hoped to sell to Toyota. The first drafts of his design were rejected, and Soichiro worked painstakingly to perfect the design, even going back to school and pawning his wife's jewelry for collateral. Eventually, he won a contract with Toyota and built a factory to construct pistons for them, which was destroyed in an earthquake. Due to a gasoline shortage during World War II, Honda was unable to use his car, and his novel idea of attaching a small engine to his bicycle attracted much curiosity. He then established the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Calling upon 18,000 bicycle shop owners across Japan to take part in revitalizing a nation torn apart by war, Soichiro received enough capital to engineer his first motorcycle, the Honda Cub. This marked the beginning of Honda Motor Company, which would grow a short time later to be 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.^[10] Powered by a small 356 cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified under the cheaper Kei car tax bracket.^{[citation needed]} The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports car, which followed the T360 into production in October 1963. Its chain driven rear wheels point to Honda's motorcycle origins.^{[citation needed]}

Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland.

The company has assembly plants around the globe. These plants are located at China, United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Turkey and Perú. As of July 2010, 89 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2 percent a year earlier. This shields profits from the yen’s advance to a 15-year high against the dollar.^[8]

Honda's Net Sales and Other Operating Revenue by Geographical Regions in 2007^[11]

Geographic Region	Total revenue (in millions of ¥)
Japan	1,681,190
North America	5,980,876
Europe	1,236,757
Asia	1,283,154
Others	905,163

American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Markham, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008;^[12] their manufacturing division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in India,^[13] Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, and Honda Atlas in Pakistan.

[edit] Current market position

With high fuel prices and a weak U.S. economy in June 2008, Honda reported a 1% sales increase while its rivals, including the Detroit Big Three and Toyota, have reported double-digit losses. Honda's sales were up almost 20 percent from the same month last year. The Civic and the Accord were in the top five list of sales.^[14]^[15] Analysts have attributed this to two main factors. First, Honda's product lineup consists of mostly small to mid-size, highly fuel-efficient vehicles. Secondly, over the last ten years, Honda has designed its factories to be flexible, in that they can be easily retooled to produce any Honda model that may be in-demand at the moment.

Nonetheless, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota, were still not immune to the global financial crisis of 2008, as these companies reduced their profitability forecasts. The economic crisis has been spreading to other important players in the vehicle related industries as well.^[16]^[17] In November 2009 the Nihon Keizai Shinbun reported that Honda Motor exports have fallen 64.1%.^[18]

At the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, Honda presented the Li Nian ("concept" or "idea") 5-door hatchback and announced that they were looking to develop an entry-level brand exclusively for the Chinese market similar to Toyota's Scion brand in the USA.^[19] The brand would be developed by a 50-50 joint-venture established in 2007 with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group.^[20]^[21]

[edit] Leadership

1948–1973 — Soichiro Honda
1973–1983 — Kiyoshi Kawashima
1983–1990 — Tadashi Kume
1990–1998 — Nobuhiko Kawamoto
1998–2004 — Hiroyuki Yoshino
2004–2009 — Takeo Fukui
since 2009 — Takanobu Ito

[edit] Products

[edit] Automobiles

For a list of vehicles, see List of Honda vehicles.

2008 Honda Accord (USA spec)

Eight Generation Honda Civic (Asian Version)

Honda's global lineup consists of the Fit, Civic, Accord, Insight, CR-V, and Odyssey. An early proponent of developing vehicles to cater to different needs and markets worldwide, Honda's lineup varies by country and may feature vehicles exclusive to that region. A few examples are the latest Acura TL luxury sedan and the Ridgeline, Honda's first light-duty uni-body pickup truck. Both were engineered primarily in North America and are exclusively produced and sold there.

The Civic is a line of compact cars developed and manufactured by Honda. In North America, the Civic is the second-longest continuously running nameplate from a Japanese manufacturer; only its perennial rival, the Toyota Corolla, introduced in 1968, has been in production longer.^[22] 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 increased global production in September 2008 to meet demand for small cars in the U.S. and emerging markets. The company is shuffling U.S. production to keep factories busy and boost car output, while building fewer minivans and sport utility vehicles as light truck sales fall.^[23]

Honda produces the Insight, a hybrid electric vehicle that competes with the Toyota Prius

Its first entrance into the pickup segment, the light duty Ridgeline, won Truck of the Year from Motor Trend magazine in 2006. Also in 2006, the redesigned Civic won Car of the Year from the magazine, giving Honda a rare double win of Motor Trend honors.

Five of United States Environmental Protection Agency's top ten most fuel-efficient cars from 1984 to 2010 comes from Honda, more than any other automakers. The five models are: 2000-2006 Honda Insight (53 mpg_-US/4.4 L/100 km; 64 mpg_-imp combined), 1986-1987 Honda Civic Coupe HF (46 mpg_-US/5.1 L/100 km; 55 mpg_-imp combined), 1994-1995 Honda Civic hatchback VX (43 mpg_-US/5.5 L/100 km; 52 mpg_-imp mpg combined), 2006- Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg_-US/5.6 L/100 km; 50 mpg_-imp combined), and 2010- Honda Insight (41 mpg_-US/5.7 L/100 km; 49 mpg_-imp combined).^[24] The ACEEE has also rated the Civic GX as the greenest car in America for seven consecutive years.^[25]

[edit] Motorcycles

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For a list of motorcycle products, see List of Honda motorcycles.

Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955.^[26] At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost 3 million motorcycles annually. By 2006 this figure had reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic competitors.^[26]

During the 1960s, when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of the Japanese motorcycle market and began exporting to the U.S. Taking Honda’s story as an archetype of the smaller manufacturer entering a new market already occupied by highly dominant competitors, the story of their market entry, and their subsequent huge success in the U.S. and around the world, has been the subject of some academic controversy. Competing explanations have been advanced to explain Honda’s strategy and the reasons for their success.^[27]

The first of these explanations was put forward when, in 1975, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was commissioned by the UK government to write a report explaining why and how the British motorcycle industry had been out-competed by its Japanese competitors. The report concluded that the Japanese firms, including Honda, had sought a very high scale of production (they had made a large number of motorbikes) in order to benefit from economies of scale and learning curve effects. It blamed the decline of the British motorcycle industry on the failure of British managers to invest enough in their businesses to profit from economies of scale and scope.

2004 Honda Super Cub

The second explanation was offered in 1984 by Richard Pascale, who had interviewed the Honda executives responsible for the firm’s entry into the U.S. market. As opposed to the tightly focused strategy of low cost and high scale that BCG accredited to Honda, Pascale found that their entry into the U.S. market was a story of “miscalculation, serendipity, and organizational learning” – in other words, Honda’s success was due to the adaptability and hard work of its staff, rather than any long term strategy. For example, Honda’s initial plan on entering the U.S. was to compete in large motorcycles, around 300 cc. It was only when the team found that the scooters they were using to get themselves around their U.S. base of San Francisco attracted positive interest from consumers that they came up with the idea of selling the Super Cub.

The most recent school of thought on Honda’s strategy was put forward by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad in 1989. Creating the concept of core competencies with Honda as an example, they argued that Honda’s success was due to its focus on leadership in the technology of internal combustion engines. For example, the high power-to-weight ratio engines Honda produced for its racing bikes provided technology and expertise which was transferable into mopeds. Honda's entry into the U.S. motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a case study for teaching introductory strategy at business schools worldwide.

[edit] Power Equipment

Production started in 1953 with H-type engine (prior to motorcycle).^[28]
Honda power equipements reached record sales in 2007 with 6,4 million units.^[29] By 2010 (Fiscal year ended March 31) this figure had decreased to 4,7 million units.^[30] Cumulative production of power products has exceeded 85 million units (as of September, 2008).^[31]

Honda power equipement include:

Blower

Power-carrier

Electric 4-wheel Scooter

Compact Household Cogeneration Unit

[edit] Engines

This section requires expansion.

Honda Outboard motor on a pontoon boat

Honda engines powered the entire 33-car starting field of the 2010 Indianapolis 500^[32] and for the fifth consecutive race, there were no engine-related retirements during the running of the Memorial Day Classic.^[33]

Honda, despite being known as an engine company, has never built a V8 for passenger vehicles. In the late 1990s, the company resisted considerable pressure from its American dealers for a V8 engine (which would have seen use in top-of-the-line Honda SUVs and Acuras), with American Honda reportedly sending one dealer a shipment of V8 beverages to silence them.^[34] Honda considered starting V8 production in the mid-2000s for larger Acura sedans, the high end NSX sports car (which previously used DOHC V6 engines with VTEC to achieve its high power output) and possible future ventures into the American full-size truck and SUV segment for both the Acura and Honda brands, but this was cancelled in late 2008, with Honda citing environmental and worldwide economic conditions as reasons for the termination of this project.^[35]

[edit] Robots

ASIMO at Expo 2005

ASIMO is the part of Honda's Research & Development robotics program. It is the eleventh in a line of successive builds starting in 1986 with Honda E0 moving through the ensuing Honda E series and the Honda P series. Weighing 54 kilograms and standing 130 centimeters tall, ASIMO resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack, and can walk on two feet in a manner resembling human locomotion, at up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). ASIMO is the world's only humanoid robot able to ascend and descend stairs independently.^[36] However, human motions such as climbing stairs are difficult to mimic with a machine, which ASIMO has demonstrated by taking two plunges off a staircase.

Honda's robot ASIMO (see below) as an R&D project brings together expertise to create a robot that walks, dances and navigates steps. 2010 marks the year Honda has developed a machine capable of reading a users brainwaves to move ASIMO. The system uses a helmet covered with electroencephalography and near-infrared spectroscopy sensors that monitor electrical brainwaves and cerebral blood flow—signals that alter slightly during the human thought process. The user thinks of one of a limited number of gestures it wants from the robot, which has been fitted with a Brain Machine Interface.^[37]

[edit] Aircraft

Main article: Honda HA-420 HondaJet

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Solar Cells

Honda's solar cell subsidiary company Honda Soltec (Headquarters: Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto; President and CEO: Akio Kazusa) will start sales throughout Japan of thin-film solar cells for public and industrial use on October 24, 2008. After selling solar cells for residential use since October 2007, Honda intends to grow its customer base by manufacturing and selling solar cells capable of the high-capacity electrical generation required by many public and industrial facilities.^[38]

[edit] Mountain bikes

[edit] Motorsports

Honda has been active in motorsports, like Motorcycle Grand Prix, Superbike racing and others.

[edit] Automobile

[edit] Motorcycles

Main article: Honda Racing Corporation

Honda RC212V raced by Dani Pedrosa

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) was formed in 1982. The company 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. In 1959, Honda entered five motorcycles into the Isle of Man TT 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 to claim their first Grand Prix victories in the 125 and 250 cc classes. Hailwood would later pick up their first Senior TT wins in 1966 and 1967. 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 with the monocoque-framed, four-stroke NR500. The FIM rules limited engines to four cylinders, so the NR500 featured 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 racers. Unfortunately, it seemed Honda tried to accomplish too much at one time and the experiment failed. For the 1982 season, Honda debuted their first two-stroke race bike, the NS500 and in 1983, Honda won their first 500 cc Grand Prix World Championship with Freddie Spencer. 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 and Valentino Rossi .

In motocross, Honda has claimed six motocross world championships. In the World Enduro Championship, Honda has captured six titles, most recently with Stefan Merriman in 2003 and with Mika Ahola in 2007 and 2008.

In observed trials, Honda has claimed three world championships with Belgian rider Eddy Lejeune.

[edit] Electric and alternative fuel vehicles

2009 Honda Civic GX hooked up to Phill refueling system

Top: Brazilian flexible-fuel Honda Civic. Below: U.S. Honda Civic Hybrid.

2010 Honda Insight hybrid electric vehicle (Second generation).

Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell vehicle

[edit] Compressed natural gas

The Honda Civic GX is the only purpose-built natural gas vehicle (NGV) commercially available in some parts of the U.S.^[42]^[43] 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. The car looks and drives just like a contemporary Honda Civic 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA).^[44]^[45]

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.^[46] Home refueling is available for the GX with the addition of the Phill Home Refueling Appliance.^[47]

[edit] Flexible-fuel

Honda's Brazilian subsidiary launched flexible-fuel versions for the Honda Civic and Honda Fit in late 2006. As others Brazilian flex-fuel vehicles, these models run on any blend of hydrous ethanol (E100) and E20-E25 gasoline.^[48]^[49] 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.^[48]^[49] 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.^[49]^[50]^[51] In July 2009, Honda launched in the Brazilian market its third flexible-fuel car, the Honda City.^[52]

During the last two months of 2006, both flex-fuel models sold 2,427 cars against 8,546 gasoline-powered automobiles,^[53] jumping to 41,990 flex-fuel cars in 2007,^[54] and reaching 93,361 in 2008.^[55] 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.^[56]

In March 2009, Honda launched in the Brazilian market the first flex-fuel motorcycle in the world. Produced by its Brazilian subsidiary Moto Honda da Amazônia, the CG 150 Titan Mix is sold for around US$2,700.^[57]^[58]^[59]

[edit] Hybrid electric

In late 1999, Honda launched the first commercial hybrid electric car sold in the U.S. market , the Honda Insight, just one month before the introduction of the Toyota Prius, and initially sold for US$20,000.^[60]^[61] The first-generation Insight was produced from 2000 to 2006 and had a fuel economy of 70 miles per US gallon (3.4 L/100 km; 84 mpg_-imp) for the EPA's highway rating, the most fuel-efficient mass-produced car at the time.^[60]^[61] Total global sales for the Insight amounted to only around 18,000 vehicles.^[61]

Honda introduced the second-generation Insight in its home nation of Japan in February 2009, and released it in other markets through 2009 and in the U.S. market in April 2009. At $19,800 as a five-door hatchback it will be the least expensive hybrid available in the U.S.^[62] Honda expects to sell 200,000 of the vehicles each year, with half of those sales in the United States.^[63]

Since 2002, Honda has also been selling the Honda Civic Hybrid (2003 model) in the U.S. market,.^[60] It was followed by the Honda Accord Hybrid, offered in model years 2005 through 2007. Sales of the Honda CR-Z began in Japan in February 2010, becoming Honda's third hybrid electric car in the market.^[64]

[edit] Hydrogen fuel cell

In Takanezawa, Japan, on 16 June 2008, Honda Motors produced the first assembly-line FCX Clarity, a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. More efficient than a gas-electric hybrid vehicle, the FCX Clarity combines hydrogen and oxygen from ordinary air to generate electricity for an electric motor.

The vehicle itself does not emit any pollutants 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 to propel itself. Like a gas-electric hybrid, it uses a lithium ion battery to assist the fuel cell during acceleration and capture energy through regenerative braking, thus improving fuel efficiency. The lack of hydrogen filling stations throughout developed countries will keep production volumes low.^[65] Honda will release the vehicle in groups of 150. California is the only U.S. market with infrastructure for fueling such vehicle, though the number of stations is still limited. Building more stations is expensive, as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) granted $6.8 million for four H2 fueling stations, costing $1.7 million USD each.^[66]^[67]

[edit] Marketing

Honda's official slogan is "The Power of Dreams". They have never used this slogan to sell their products. Mr. Honda's belief is that well built products will sell themselves.

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 a Europe Domestic Market Honda Accord (upon which the USDM Acura TSX is based). To the chagrin of the engineers at Honda, all the parts were taken from two of only six hand-assembled 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 606 takes to get it perfect.^[68]

In 2004, they produced the Grrr advert, usually immediately followed by a shortened version of the 2005 Impossible Dream advert.

A post 2005 style Honda dealership in Moncton, Canada

In December 2005, Honda released 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 "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 featured a 60-person choir who sang the car noises as film of the Honda Civic are shown.

For the last several years 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 featured an animated character known simply as Mr. Opportunity, voiced by Rob Paulsen. The casual looking man talks about various deals offered by Honda and ends 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. Also, 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 exploring a museum, looking at the exhibits with almost child-like wonderment (spreading out its arms in the aerospace exhibit, waving hello to an astronaut suit that resembles him, etc.), while Garrison Keillor ruminates on progress. It concludes with the tagline: "More forwards please".

Honda also sponsored ITV's coverage of Formula 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 features 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 aeroplane 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 advert lasted three minutes. The next flight of one of the two planes involved resulted in a fatal crash as the plane broke apart in mid-air.^[69]

In 2009, American Honda released the Dream the Impossible documentary series, a collection of 5-8 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 feature 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.

[edit] Sports

In Australia, Honda advertised heavily during most motor racing telecasts, and was the official sponsor of the 2006 FIA Formula 1 telecast on broadcaster channel "Ten". In fact, it was the only manufacturer involved in the 2006 Indy Racing League season. In a series of adverts promoting the history of Honda's racing heritage, Honda claimed it "built" cars that won 72 Formula 1 Grand Prix. Skeptics^[who?] have accused Honda of interpreting its racing history rather liberally, saying that virtually all of the 72 victories were achieved by Honda powered (engined) machines, whereas the cars themselves were designed and built by Lotus F1, Williams F1, and McLaren F1 teams, respectively. However, former and current staff of the McLaren F1 team have reiterated that Honda contributed more than just engines and provided various chassis, tooling, and aerodynamic parts as well as funding. Ayrton Senna, arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time, repeatedly stated that Honda probably played the most significant role in his three world championships. He had immense respect for founder, Soichiro Honda, and had a good relationship with Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the chairman of Honda at that time. Senna once called Honda "the greatest company in the world".

As part of its marketing campaign, Honda is an official partner and sponsor of the National Hockey League, the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, and the arena named after it: Honda Center. Honda also sponsors The Honda Classic golf tournament and is a sponsor of 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."

[edit] Facilities (partial list)

Main article: List of Honda facilities

[edit] U.S. Honda models

The examples and perspective in this article or section might have an extensive bias or disproportional coverage towards the United States. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Cars	Accord	Civic	Fit
Energy/Hybrid/Other	Civic Hybrid	FCX Clarity	Insight	CR-Z
SUVs	Pilot	Element
Trucks	Ridgeline
Crossovers	CR-V	Crosstour
Vans	Odyssey

[edit] Sales

Calendar Year	Total U.S. sales
1999	1,076,893
2000	1,158,860
2001	1,207,639
2002	1,247,834
2003	1,349,847
2004	1,394,398
2005	1,462,472
2006	1,509,358
2007	1,551,542
2008	1,284,261
2009	1,150,784

[edit] See also

	Japanese Car portal
	Tokyo portal
	Companies portal

Acura
Dongfeng Honda Automobile Company — joint venture
Honda advanced technology
Honda Aircraft Company
Honda Airport
Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan
Honda Automobile (China) Company — importer of cars into China
Honda Battle of the Bands
Honda Canada Inc.
Honda F.C. (Football (soccer) club)
Honda Heat (Rugby union club)
Honda Type R
List of Honda assembly plants
List of Honda engines
List of Honda motorcycles
List of Honda transmissions
List of Honda vehicles
RPA (Rubin Postaer and Associates)

Honda News

Honda Company

[edit] Current market position

[edit] Leadership

[edit] Products

[edit] Automobiles

[edit] Motorcycles

[edit] Power Equipment

[edit] Engines

[edit] Robots

[edit] Aircraft

[edit] Solar Cells

[edit] Mountain bikes

[edit] Motorsports

[edit] Automobile

[edit] Motorcycles

[edit] Electric and alternative fuel vehicles

[edit] Compressed natural gas

[edit] Flexible-fuel

[edit] Hybrid electric

[edit] Hydrogen fuel cell

[edit] Marketing

[edit] Sports

[edit] Facilities (partial list)

[edit] U.S. Honda models

[edit] Sales

[edit] See also