Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

is a Japenese manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles and

scooters with head quarters in Tokyo. They also make ATVs, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, and lawn and garden equipment. With more than 14 million internal combustion engines built each year, Honda is the largest engine-maker in the world. Honda's high-end line of cars are branded Acura in North America. Honda automobiles are well known around the world to be very reliable, with many Hondas going through their lives without needing a single major repair, and many people believe that these cars last "forever" because after 20 years, their [Honda] cars are still running. It is arguable, however, that the foundation of Honda's success is the motorcycle division, for which the name is still probably the best known.

HISTORY
Soichiro Honda began by manufacturing piston rings in November 1937. He quickly became a sub-contractor to Toyota, and then expanded into 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 and 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. In late1960s, Honda had conquered most Japan motorcycle market. By the 1970s, Honda was the largest producer of motorcycles in the world, a title it has never relinquished world markets.

DEFINING MOMENTS As the 1970s began, there was a thirst throughout the organization; a hunger for the vision and direction that would revive the flagging power products business. Create a
million-selling engine": this was the new target for the Power Products development staff. That figure was consistent with the Three-Pillar Initiative announced by Kiyoshi Kawashima following his appointment as company president in 1973. The initiative reflected Honda's decision to direct its entire corporate effort toward three areas of activity: an expanded motorcycle business, entry into the auto business, and a boost in performance for Power Products.

In response to strict new U.S. tailpipe emissions standards, Honda developed the Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion (CVCC) engine . This enginefeatured in the Civic modelwas powerful for its size, fuel efficient, and able to meet the stricter emissions standards without needing a catalytic converter, thus keeping the cars price low. Honda Civic sales soared to 10,000 units a month by 1975.In 1976, Honda introduced the larger Accordwhich Motor Trend magazine awarded its Import Car of the Year honorand the car was so popular that Accords were back-ordered at Honda dealers across the U.S.

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 which revolutionized the way carmakers tuned their engines.
HONDA STRATEGIES

Honda has moved large manufacturing facilities from Asia to the US to reduce length of their supply chain .A short supply chain improves market timing, lowers transportation costs, and facilitates Just In Time (JIT) inventory systems. Being close to the customer also helps the manufacturer sense and respond to market changes, helping them gain market share. Other advantages are those projects where close collaboration with designers, engineers, and the customer is necessary for success.

Honda's short supply chain to its customers, and their suppliers' short supply chain to Honda, are a good strategic example for the small domestic manufacturer. The benefits of a short supply chain are directly transferable to the small manufacturing business, and are a strong domestic advantage. Hondas corporate strategy involved formulation and implementation. Formulation involved looking at the market, competitors and resources and formulating a corporate strategy which would be implemented throughout each process of the organizational structure. Honda was following a strategy of developing region by region. Over a period of four to five years they moved from the west coast of America to the east coast. The motorcycles available in US before Honda entered the market were for limited group of people such as the police, army etc. But Honda had a "policy of selling, not primarily to confirmed motorcyclists but rather to members of the general public who had never before given a second thought to a motorcycle". The small, lightweight Honda Supercub sold at under 250 dollars compared to the bigger American or British machines which were retailing at around 1000 to 1500 dollars. Many of the motorcycles produced were large and bulky and this led to the image of the motorcycle rider as being one who wore a leather jacket and went out to cause trouble. Honda paid emphasis to advertising and the company spent heavily on the advertising theme " you meet the nicest people on a Honda" thereby disassociating themselves from the rowdy, hell's angels type of people.

Honda initially succeeded in own domestic market in Japan. The high production for domestic demand led to Honda experiencing economies of scale as the cost of producing motorbikes declined with the level of output. This provided Honda to achieve a highly competitive cost position which they used to penetrate into the US market. " The basic philosophy of the Japanese manufacture is that high volumes per model provide the potential for high productivity as a result of using capital intensive and highly automated techniques. Their marketing strategies are therefore directed towards developing these high model volumes. In 1960 Honda's research team comprised of around 700 designer and engineer staff compared to the 100 or so employed by their competitors showing the value which the company placed on innovation.

HONDAS SUCCESS SAGA IN INDIA

In 1984 , HMCL entered the Indian two-wheeler market through a joint venture with Kinetic Engineering Limited (KEL) for manufacturing scooters. This was followed by another joint venture with the Hero Group for making motorcycles. As its company name indicates, Hero Honda came into being as a tie-up between the Hero Group of India and Honda Motors of Japan.
In the early 1980s, the potential and size of the automobile market in India attracted the Japanese automobile major, Honda. Looking around for a likely partner amongst Indian manufacturers, Honda noticed that Hero Cycles had one of the highest labour productivity rates in the world, a strong engineering capability and an extensive, loyal distribution network. Hero's commitment to quality was another great inducement for Honda. In 1984, when Hero Honda Motors Ltd. came into being, it was the marriage of the world's largest manufacturer of bicycles with the world's largest manufacturer of motorbikes. The success of this liaison is best exemplified by the fact that Hero Honda is, today, the largest joint venture of Honda worldwide.

Hero Honda has been named Bike Maker of the year consecutively in 2001, 2002&2003 by OverDrive magazine.

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE PLANS

.The 2006 Honda Civic and Honda Ridgeline have earned the prestigious 2006 "North American Car of the Year" and "North American Truck of the Year" awards respectively. This marks the first time ever that a single brand has won both awards in the same year, and it marks Honda's first win in either category Splendor declared World No. 1 - largest selling single two-wheeler model in 2000. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Announces Merger of Two Subsidiaries; Suzuki Circuit Land Co. Ltd and twin ring Motegi Co. Ltd ,by june 2006. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Has started Honda Jazz Production In Turkey. Honda was granted a license to produce automobiles in Vietnam. Annual production capacity at the new factory will be 10,000 units, with production targeted to begin by 2006. Honda debuted a new ASIMO humanoid robot which features the ability to pursue key tasks in a real-life environment such as an office and an advanced level of physical capabilities Signaling a rapid advancement in its fuel cell vehicle technology, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced that it will begin production in Japan of its next generation FCX hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicle (FCV) in three to four years