Soichiro Honda is the founder of the world famous Honda company, whose motorcycles are a symbol of reliability and speed. The success story of the businessman began with the invention of metal spokes for the car wheel, which was a new stage in the development of the industry.
Soichiro Honda: history of Honda Motor Co
The inventor was always attracted by speed and cars, and he found himself in racing. But the accident in 1936 made its corrections, and multiple fractures, broken face did not allow him to make a career. But the young man did not give up his hands and decided to open the production of piston rings for cars. To improve their strength with the addition of silicon, a small company managed to grow into a large company, which during the Second World War, supplied parts for Toyota Corporation, covering 50 percent of the needs for these products. But during the bombing, Honda’s factories were destroyed and he decided to sell the surviving equipment. The businessman begins a new stage of professional activity – he opens a company to manufacture motorcycles, and in 1950 the first model entered the market. Thanks to stylish design and simple management, the novelty immediately found its consumer, and by 1955 Honda Motor Co became the market leader in Japan, and by 1959 – the world-famous, by sales overtook Harley-Davidson.
The success of the company is the merit of its founder, who laid down the basic principles of management, and they are still used for doing business:
- sell only those products that are in demand in a particular country;
- aim for internationalization of production;
- make products where they will be sold;
- try to solve any problems, even if it seems impossible;
- create new models;
- listen to employees and encourage their initiative.
Despite achievements in motorcycle manufacturing, Soichiro Honda has not abandoned his passion for cars. When Honda Motor Co. took 50% of the world market, its head decided to start producing cars.
They started with trucks in 1962, then came on sale a sports two-seater car. Both models were successful, and the company began to develop in this direction. The unique development was Honda Civic, which in 1970 had an environmentally friendly engine and consumed a small amount of fuel.
In 1973, Soichiro Honda decided to resign from the position of the head of the board of the company, but showed unprecedented activity, until his death in 1991, continuing to test new models and advising developers on the technical improvement of cars and motorcycles Honda Motor Co.
