| Honda In America: 50 Years of Automotive Excellence! |
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The Honda Motor Company, Ltd has built its reputation on producing cars that are of a high quality, reasonably priced, and of enduring value. Honda's US presence spans more than one half century, having first exported motorcycles stateside in 1959 followed by passenger vehicles in 1973. In the intervening years Honda began shipping marine motors, lawn mowers, and other power tools, demonstrating the company's broad engineering capabilities.
American Landing
1973 proved to be perfect timing for the introduction of the first Honda model in the United States. America had already demonstrated that certain small cars, such as the VW Bug, could succeed in a land of big automobiles as long as they were a bit quirky and relatively cheap.
That year also brought about the first of two Arab Oil Embargoes, where the oil producing states of the Middle East limited the amount of petroleum shipped to the US in retaliation for American support of Israel. Gas, which had always been cheap became much more expensive, if it could be found. Thus, American drivers began to search for alternative transportation, something they found in the Honda Civic.
Gas Miser
The Civic was often ridiculed by other drivers with some calling it a “pregnant roller skate” while others derided its tiny proportions. But when confronted with higher gas prices, a car that could easily get at least 40 mpg stood out. Importantly, that first Civic also met stringent Environmental Protection Agency pollution requirements and did so without need of a catalytic converter.
By 1976 Americans had decided that the Honda Civic was a good thing, but as the only model available there was no room for families to trade up. That meant a larger model needed to be offered with Honda bringing the Accord hatchback to the US as our nation celebrated its bi-centennial. Three years later Honda added the Accord sedan followed shortly thereafter by the Prelude, its sporty coupe.
Within ten years of starting out in the US market, Honda offered three model lines to the American driver, and even began to build the Accord sedan at its new factory located in Marysville, Ohio.
Acura Introduced
Honda has the distinction of being the first Japanese automaker to produce a premium brand, launching Acura in 1986, ahead of Nissan's Infiniti and Toyota's Lexus brands. That first car was the Integra, which was underpinned by the same platform used for the Civic. But the car also offered a much sportier exterior, interior refinements, and certain premium components to help set it apart from Honda.
Big changes were still ahead for Honda when 1990 rolled around. The automaker expanded its Acura line and also brought more cars into the Honda fold. While the Prelude disappeared, the Civic and Accord were updated and remain two of the most popular models sold today.
American Graffiti
Throughout the 1990s, Honda demonstrated that they were serious about becoming a part of the American mainstream, entering open wheel racing during that decade, building more plants in the US, and taking a leadership role on environmental issues. Indeed, both a compressed natural gas Civic and the first gas-electric hybrid model, the Insight, were rolled out.
Today, Honda's line includes a wide variety of vehicles from the Odyssey minivan, to the quirky Element people mover, and to the car chassis based Ridgeline truck as well as the CR-V and Pilot crossovers. The Fit is now the smallest Honda sold with both the Civic and Accord moved up one segment. And, finally, Acura continues to offer Honda a luxurious alternative for Honda faithful, one of the best premium lines of cars in the world.
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