Honda

Honda Motors Company Ltd. is a Japanese-based car maker registered as a public multinational corporation currently stationed at Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda was founded by Soichiro Honda on September 24, 1948. Soichiro was a mechanic and a self-taught engineer who first worked at a Japanese tuning shop

Soichiro, at first worked on developing a piston that he could sell to Toyota, but his first attempt was rejected by the Japanese car maker. After the first rejection, Soichiro worked hard to perfect the design of his piston and a few years later it was accepted by Toyota. After this, Honda opened his own factory which was later damaged by the earthquake. Shortage of gasoline supply due to World War II had further worsened Honda's business situation. Due to this, Honda had failed to sell his cars.

Despite the initial failure, Honda's decided he would attempt to attach a small engine to a bicycle. This instantly became a hit. Honda's idea would eventually lead to the invention of the motorcycle. Honda received the needed capital and began producing the first batch of motorcycles. These events marked the actual start of the Honda Motor Company. Due to stable sales and rising demands for his products, Honda had emerged as the world's largest producer of motorcycles in 1964.

Honda then ventured into developing the company's own version of automobiles. It was in August of 1963 when Honda started the production of his first automobile. The first model that was produced was the T360, a mini pickup truck that was powered by a 356 cc straight-4 engine. Two months after that, Honda was able to produce his first ever car, known as the S500 sports car. The S500 was a rear-wheel drive vehicle driven by chains, just like a motorcycle.

After a few decades, Honda extended its production to other products. At the present, Honda is producing products such as automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment. Aside from these, the company has also ventured into the production of engines, robots and air crafts, however, its automobile production still remains as one of the largest globally distributed products.

Honda opened its first store in the US in the year 1959. This was established in Los Angeles with only 6 employees. After a few years, Honda's sales in the US had increased and the demand for the products they sell had increased, which led to further expansion. Due to this, Honda established more stores in different areas of the US to meet the needs of its growing customers.

At present, the American Honda Motor Company is currently based in Torrance, California. This regional division of the Japanese car maker is now in-charge of the production and distribution of Honda vehicles all over the US. In Canada, all of the company's sales and production efforts are handled by Honda Canada Inc., which is based in its corporate headquarters at Markham, Ontario. In addition to this, there is also Honda of Canada Manufacturing, based in Alliston, Ontario.

As of now, Honda has many assembling plants all over the globe. Some of these are located in Asia, America, and Europe. With this expansion, Honda emerged as the second largest Japanese car maker in 2001, surpassing Nissan. In August 2008, Honda was able to surpass Chrysler's sales and production. This made Honda the fourth largest car manufacturer in the US and the sixth largest all over the globe.