Honda is one of the oldest and most reputed motorcycle companies across the world with 37 production facilities in 23 countries.
Honda has achieved a historic feat of globally producing 500 million motorcycles. The company was founded nearly 77 years back in 1948 while the first motorcycle to roll out of the production line a year later in 1949 was the Dream D-Type. This milestone was celebrated at the brand’s factory in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in India. Honda’s first manufacturing unit outside its home country Japan was established in Belgium in 1963. The Japanese two-wheeler brand started local production in India around three decades back in 1995.
“For Honda, the motorcycle business is our founder’s business, and will continue to be the company’s core business. In the motorcycle business, we have built the trust of our customers through our many products and services, which has enabled us to achieve a cumulative production volume of 500 million units,” said Toshihiro Mibe, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.’s President, CEO and Representative Director.
Honda setup its first factory in North America in 1979 at Marysville, Ohio while the first bike to be wheeled out of this production unit was the CR250R dirt bike. A year later in 1980, it introduced the locally assembled GL1100 GoldWing in the USA. Till date, Honda has launched more than 30 motorcycles in the American market which includes cruisers, standard bikes and touring bikes.
Due to continued expansion in various global markets such as Thailand, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Italy, United States of America, China and Vietnam, Honda was able to breach the 100 million-unit milestone in 1997. Almost a decade later in 2008, it touched the global production landmark of 200 million units. By this time, the company had begun local manufacturing in many other countries such as Mexico, Argentina and Peru among others.
Honda rolled out 20 million units in one year for the first time in its history in 2018. Though, the production dropped significantly due to COVID-19 in 2020 but the recovery has been rapid and its back to pre-pandemic levels. Last year, Honda forayed into the electric two-wheeler segment by launching multiple products globally, including India.
It presently has 37 production facilities across the world with an annual production capacity of more than 20 million units. Honda has a dealership network of over 30,000 outlets worldwide. “I would like to thank our customers and all stakeholders who were involved in achieving this milestone, from development to production, sales and service. Honda will continue to take on the challenge of expanding the joy of our customers around the world,” added Toshihiro Mibe.
