Honda
Soichiro
oichiro Honda always loved to tinker with
The son of a village blacksmith,he
\machines.
up in the tiny village of Komyo, Japan.
\Jgrew
After studying to become a mechanic, he opened his
own auto repair shop. In the 1920s he worked in a
garagein Tokyo. He built a racing car, then started a
company making piston rings.
f-\
Motorcycles
From these modest beginnings, he created the motorcycle and automobile businesses
that bear his name. At
the time of his death in 1991, he ran an enterprise
worth $30 billion. Honda motorcyclesoutsold all others, and its automobiles ranked among the top sellers
worldwide.
One of Soichiro Honda's earliest successes
occurred in 1949 as Japan started to recover from its
defeat in'World rWarIL Honda buiit small motorbikes
by attaching war surplus generatorenginesto bicycles.
The tiny engines burned turpentine-basedfuel and
poked along on one-half horsepower,but at a time
when few Japanesecould afford cars, his motorbikes
sold well. Soon Honda produced a basic motorcycle
and a small moped. Honda Motor Company was on
the road to success.Honda's lightweight, highly effi*
cient enginessuited the Japanesemarket. They also
made a smooth transition to North America, where his
bikes had broad appeal.By 1959 Honda had become
the world's leadingmaker of motorcycles.
Not content to be merely a motorcycle maker,
H o n d a ' s c o m p a n y b e g a nm a k i n g c a r s i n 1 , 9 6 3 . T o
break into this market, he had to battle not only
Japan'sentrenchedcarmakers but also the Japanese
government. The Ministry of International Trade and
Industry had decided that Japan needed fewer-not
more-automakers to operate at peak efficiency. "In
those days," said Honda, "the officials controlled virtually everything . . . But I thought I was free to make
whatever I wanted so I said to them, ''We're not at
war now . . .Why shouldn't I go ahead?"' He did,
a n d b y t h e e a r l y 1 9 8 0 s H o n d a h a d b e c o m eo n e o f
Japan'slargest automakers.
A Gleaner
AutoEngine
Honda valued practical experienceas highly as formal
training. At the same time, he placed great faith in
researchand innovation. His commitment to engineering and experimentation paid off in 1972 when
34
Ghapter
17 Soichiro
Honda
SoichiroHonda'smotorcycleandautomobile
businesses
comprisean enterprisethatwasworth$30billionatthe timeaf his
deathin 1991.
Honda became the first automaker to produce an
enginethat won the approval of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.Its cars met the tough new emissions
requirementsof the Clean Air Act. EPA approval gave
Honda a leg up on the competition and helped establish its placein the U.S.car market.
Throughout the 1970s, Honda's American market share climbed. American consumersgrew more
concernedabout fuel efficiency following a price hike
by oil-producing nations that doubled the price of
gasoline. Honda's expertise in small engine design
helped the company build fuel-efficient cars that
greatly increasedits profitability.
By the mid-1990s, Honda was producing nearly
one million cars per year in North America. Almost
all of the parts for some Honda models came from
local suppliers,and Honda assemblyplants employed
thousands of U.S. workers. From his humble beginnings, Soichiro Honda built a global corporation
with factories throughout Japan and other parts of
Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. Its
successat the beginning of the twenty-first century
would have pleasedbut not surprised its founder.
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