Beginning. The company's history started in the 1920s. Soichiro Honda left his family home and started an apprenticeship at an automobile repair shop. In 1947, Soichiro started producing a bicycle powered by an internal combustion engine. Honda Motor Company Ltd. was established in 1948. In 1963, the world saw the first models of Honda S360 and Honda S500 cars at the Tokyo motor show.
Development. The Honda N360 was the first car to be produced on a large scale. At the end of 1967, it had a 70 HP engine. Honda is one of the few independent Japanese car and motorcycle manufacturers. Initially, Honda mostly sold cars in the USA. In 1972, the highly successful Honda Civic model was created. Six years later, a sports Honda model was launched — the Prelude. Since 1986, Honda has been manufacturing luxurious Acura cars. These are sold only in North America and Hong Kong.
Present. In 2008, the company employed over 180,000 people and generated revenues of 5 billion dollars (data from 2006). Apart from cars, the company manufactures motorcycles, scooters, engines, robots, aeroplanes and motorbikes.
Contribution to the automotive industry. Honda is famous for using structures using alternative fuels. The Honda Civic GX is one of the first vehicles fuelled with compressed natural gas. Towards the end of 1999, the company launched the first commercial hybrid-electric-petrol motor. It was used in the Insight model. The fuel consumption was 3.4 litres per 100 kilometres (motorway test). In 2002, Honda launched a hybrid Civic model. The use of hydrogen fuel cells is quite interesting. Hydrogen fuel cells were used in Honda FCX Clarity. The car does not produce any pollution. It produces only heat and water.
Trivia. At present, Honda is the largest engine manufacturer in the world. It manufactures over 25 million such cars a year. A lot of Honda engines use Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC). Four versions of this system are currently being produced. The DOHC VTEC engine is the most technologically advanced version. The first engine to use this solution was the legendary B16A, with 16 valves, with a capacity of 1595cc and 160 HP. It was installed for the first time in 1989 in the Japanese versions of Honda Integra XSi and RSi. In 1991, it was used in Europe in the Honda Civic i-VT, where the B16A1 engine reached 150 HP at 7600 rpm. Honda is also present in sports: participation in the Moto GP, use of Honda engines in Formula 1 engines.
Popular models manufactured until the present: Honda Accord, Honda City, Honda Civic, Honda Civic Type R, Honda Crossroad, Honda CR-Z, Honda CR-V, Honda FR-V, Honda FCX Clarity, Honda Insight, Honda Inspire, Honda Jazz, Honda Legend.
Tyres. Honda cooperates with numerous tyre manufacturers. The Honda FCX model was equipped with Yokohama E105 tyres, size 215/60 R16. The original equipment of Honda Civic included Bridgestone tyres — Bridgestone RE88 GZ, size 195/60 R15 or Bridgestone ER30, size 205/55 R16. Bridgestone RE040 tyres, size 225/45 R17 were used in Honda Accord cars. RE050 tyres, size 245/40 R17, were used in the Honda S2000. Dunlop tyres were also used on a standard basis in Honda cars. The original equipment of various versions of the Honda Civic (DX, EX/LX and hybrids) included 14- and 16-inch Dunlop SP20 tyres. The Honda CR-V was equipped with Grandtrek ST20 tyres.