Honda

In 1946, Japanese mechanic, race car driver, and self-taught engineer Soichiro Honda founded a company that made small, efficient engines. Two years later he started producing a complete motorized bicycle, the Type A, which was driven by the first mass-produced engine designed by Honda. His business was incorporated as Honda Motor Co. on September 24, 1948 and originally concentrated on motorcycles.

Soichiro Honda

Honda Motor Co's clean-burning CVCC engine created an automotive revolution, and its cars won a large share of the US market after they went on sale in 1963.

The 1963 "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" advertising campaign established Honda's brand image in the US and helped the Super Cub become the top-selling motor bike in history.

In 1973 the CEO of General Motors dismissed Honda's CVCC technology as only good for "little toy motorcycle engines." Soichiro Honda then bought a Chevy Impala with a 5.7L V8 and had engineers build a CVCC system for it. Flown back to the US, it passed EPA tests without a catalytic converter.

On November 1, 1982, Honda opened its first automobile factory in Marysville, Ohio. This made Honda the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States. 

The Honda Accord was the first car produced at the Marysville, Ohio factory. The Accord has been in continuous production at the Marysville factory ever since, and it is now the longest-running passenger car production line in North America.

Today, the Marysville factory is one of the largest and most efficient automobile factories in the world. It employs over 10,000 people and produces over 440,000 vehicles per year. The factory is also a leader in environmental sustainability, and it has been recognized for its efforts to reduce its environmental impact.

In 2022, over two-thirds of all Honda and Acura vehicles sold in America were made in the USA.

Honda Accord Photo by Jeremy from Sydney, Australia

The Honda Civic that Pam Grier drives in Jackie Brown is the same car that Butch (Bruce Willis) drives in Pulp Fiction.

Honda agreed in 1998 to pay $17.1 million for disconnecting anti-pollution devices in 1.6 million cars.

Honda was forced to change the name of its Fitta car in 2001 after it emerged the word meant a woman's genitals in Swedish. It was re-branded the Honda Jazz.

In Japanese, Honda means "main rice field" and Toyota means "bountiful rice field."

The Honda CR-V originally came with a picnic table.

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines.