We appreciate you taking the time today to visit our Honda dealer web
site in Norfolk. Our goal is to give you an interactive tour of our new
and used Honda inventory, as well as allow you to conveniently get a
quote, schedule a service appointment, or apply for financing.
At
our Virginia Honda dealership in Norfolk, we have devoted ourselves to
helping and serving our customers to the best of our ability. We
believe the cars we offer are the highest quality and ideal for your
life needs. We understand that you rely on our Honda dealer web site
for accurate information, and it is our pledge to deliver you relevant,
correct, and abundant content.
Please do not hesitate to contact
us with any questions you may have. Our staff is happy to answer any
and all inquiries in a timely fashion. We look forward to doing
business with you at our Virginia Honda dealership and thanks again for
visitng our Honda dealer website in Norfolk
History of Honda Motor Co.
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.
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: 2 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.
Honda Racing
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!
Honda Strategy
During the 1960s, when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of
the Japanese motorcycle market and began exporting to the US. 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 US 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.
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.
The second story is told in
1984 by Richard Pascale, who had interviewed the Honda executives
responsible for the firm's entry into the US 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 US 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 US was to compete in large
motorcycles, around 300cc. It was only when the team found that the
scooters they were using to get themselves around their US base of San
Francisco attracted positive interest from consumers that they came up
with the idea of selling the Supercub.
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 US motorcycle market
during the 1960s is used as a case study for teaching introductory
strategy at business schools worldwide.
Its first entrance
into the pickup segment, the lightduty Ridgeline, won Truck of the
Year, completing a "one-two" combination, as its redesigned Civic also
won Car of the Year. Part of its warm reception from the industry stems
from its innovation in offering all wheel independent suspension, the
first for a pick up truck. With a unibody design that boasts 20x the
rigidity of a traditional construction framework, it provides solid
handling and a controlled car-like feel even while hauling a load.
Honda Initiative
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 pick-up 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.
*The
brand history on this page is a collaboration of points found from
various sources on the Internet. Checkered Flag does not claim it to
be accurate. If you find anything to not be factual, we want to know
so we can change it. Please use our "Contact Us" form to inform us of
a possible error.
