Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Explore Honda Motor
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Explore Honda Motor
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Company History
Founded 1948 in Tokyo, Japan
Soichiro Honda founded Honda Motor in 1948 with Takeo Fujisawa later shaping the commercial side of the business. The company began with motorized bicycles and small engines, then expanded into motorcycles, cars, power products, and global racing.
Soichiro Honda established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. On September 24, 1948, with JPY 1M in capital. The company began by building motorized bicycles for a Japan that needed cheap transportation to rebuild after World War II.
The Super Cub became the most produced motor vehicle in history (100M+ units). Its step-through design and automatic clutch made motorcycling accessible to non-riders and funded Honda's expansion into automobiles and racing.
The Civic gave Honda a global automobile franchise, and the CVCC engine met U.S. Emissions standards without a catalytic converter — proving Honda could solve regulatory problems through engineering rather than lobbying.
Honda became the first Japanese automaker to manufacture cars in the United States, establishing the Marysville plant that proved Japanese quality could be maintained with American workers and reduced trade-friction risk.
Facing EV transition costs neither company could easily fund alone, Honda and Nissan began exploring a strategic alliance to share platforms, software, and procurement — signaling that even major automakers need scale partnerships to survive the transition.
Honda traces its roots to 1948.