Honda Motor Company Ltd is a Japanese multinational corporation chiefly known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is well known as is the world’s largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume and motorcycles. In 2001 Honda became the second largest Japanese automobile manufacturer, pushing Nissan in third place.

In 1986 Honda became the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release dedicated luxury brand. The company also produces marine engines, power generators, garden equipment and personal watercraft and others. Honda has also been actively involved with robotics or artificial intelligence research. The company unveiled their robot called ASIMO in 2000. Honda has also explored aerospace in 2004 with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines as well as the Honda HA-420 HondaJet which is scheduled to be made public in 2011.

History

Soichiro Honda had always had an interest in automobile, he worked for a Japanese tuning shop as a mechanic where he tuned cars and entered them in racing competitions. Soichiro is a self- taught engineer who worked on a piston design which he wanted to sell to Toyota but the initial drafts of the design were denied. The rejection did not stop him however, from working assiduously to make his design as perfect as possible as he went back to school and used his wife’s jewelry as collateral. This paid off as he entered into a contract with Toyota where he constructed a factory to build pistons for them. The factory was however destroyed by an earthquake. During the Second World War there was a gas shortage which meant Soichiro was unable to use his car instead he came up with an idea to attach a small engine to his bicycle, an act which drew a lot of curious onlookers. Following this he founded the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu in Japan. The institute was established to create small two cycle motorbike engines. With the assistance of about 18000 bicycle shop owners, Soichiro was able to garner sufficient capital to construct his first motorcycle, the Honda Cub. This was the catalyst for the start of the Honda Motor Company.