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hi welcome to another ColdFusion video
Honda for decades this brand has been
seen as a friendly face in the auto
industry with tag liens like the power
of dreams there's always been a sense
that Honda isn't just a money-making
machine there seems to be a curiosity
behind their engineering this fits
exactly with the attitude of their
namesake Soichiro Honda who founded the
company in this video we're going to
take a look at the story of Honda and
how one small Japanese company became a
household name the story starts with
Soichiro Honda born in 1906 in the rural
village of cono in Japan so each year
his father was a blacksmith and the
young boy spent much of his time helping
him repair bicycles from his experience
in his father's workshop soichiro had an
early love for engine mechanics at age
15 without a formal education sweet
Shiro left his small village and headed
to Tokyo in search of work he soon found
himself working as an apprentice in an
auto garage at just age 17 he would
develop a race car that won trophies and
set a new average speed record it was
clear that the boy had Talent
in 1937 he decided to start his own
company mainly focusing on making piston
rings that same year his company managed
to receive a large order from a brand
new car manufacturer named toto
unfortunately so Shiro would lose the
contract due to the quality of his parts
not being up to scratch he chose not to
give up though and decided to attend
engineering school though without
graduating and take a close look and
observation at factories around Japan he
spent two years painstakingly observing
the best engineering practices once he
did this he understood the purpose of
quality control and by 1941 Honda was
able to mass-produce piston rings
acceptable to Toyota the orders from
Toyota was actually much larger than
Honda could manage in his current
workshop so he wanted to build a new one
but a major issue stood in his way
Japan was gearing up for World War two
and this meant that a lot of materials
were in short supply particularly cement
so Honda had to work out how to make his
own cement before being able to build a
new factory to meet Toyota's order these
new factories did survive the war but
Mother Nature who was never one to miss
out in a practical joke destroyed the
buildings in an earthquake Honda decided
to cut his losses and sold the whole
business to Toyota allowing him to focus
on his first true love the motorbike so
while materials had been scarce before
the war
now that the fighting was over Honda and
the people of Japan were faced with a
shortage of petrol what people really
needed was a way to get around easily
while being extremely fuel-efficient
Honda saw this gap in the market his
plan was to start installing surplus
military engines on to traditional
bicycles creating a kind of hybrid the
first product put to the market was the
a type motorbike by 1949 he had a fully
designed frame and engine on a bike
called the Model D and the D stood for
dream at this point he joined forces
with Takeo Fujisawa and created the
Honda company as we know it today
Fujisawa brought capital but more than
money
he brought business and financial
insight on this fascination with
mechanics led to an incredible redesign
of the four-stroke engine with this new
innovation he managed to double the
horsepower this redesign helped Honda
capture 15% of the Japanese motorcycle
market within a few years however sukira
didn't really care about that for him
the breakthrough was that this engine
could mean a lot for Honda's performance
on the track and soon the racing
achievements easily match those of the
business by the end of the 1950's they
had won every important prize you can
think of all around the globe
so Jiro probably would have driven the
machines himself if it hadn't been for a
racing accident back in 1936 which
seriously injured his left eye so cheero
would later describe how he worked so
hard in his cars that he would go week
without sleep just to perfect their
problems he stated that he saw the KY as
as child and he as its mother
the push for success on the track led to
many developments that could be put into
future production machines so naturally
you would think that Honda would build
on this brand of a world-beating speed
machine but they did just the opposite
the company's main success was driven by
the 1958 50 cc Super Cup which had been
specifically designed to be a safe and
simple runabout they specifically wanted
a product that included woman and other
individuals who otherwise wouldn't ride
a motorcycle this was to expand on the
typical male customer base of the
motorbike the Super Cub bike needed to
be easy enough to drive with just one
hand so customers could carry their
shopping or deliver a package it was
basically a bike for running errands and
it's sold in huge numbers within just
two years of its release the Super Cub
made Honda the biggest motorcycle
manufacturer in Japan and surprisingly
the Super Cub itself is still in
production over 100 million have now
been manufactured making it the most
produced motor vehicle in history
Honda riding high in the supercups
popularity thought it was time to look
across the seas they set up American
Honda company in 1959 interestingly
Honda didn't rely on established
distributors because they knew that they
weren't going after the existing
motorcycle market they were going to
create an entirely new one for people
who previously thought motorcycles were
dangerous it was a complete reversal of
the big macho image in the United States
thanks in part to celebrities like James
Dean and Elvis so to highlight this
different approach by Honda they sold
their bikes in sporting goods stores
hobby shops and even hardware stores
instead of existing bike retailers and
their tagline really hit the point home
it was you meet the nicest people on a
Honda and it worked within a year almost
50% of the bikes sold in American soil
were from Honda maybe this shows the
enduring power of advertising but if
were honest it probably has more to do
with the fact that they were selling a
lighter bike would double the horsepower
at well under a quarter of the price of
american-made machines
from 1960 to 1965 the revenue of Honda's
American branch went from $500,000 to
almost 80 million during this period the
firm was producing a hundred bikes per
month while other major bike
manufacturers were only managing 15,000
a year Honda were far and away the
largest motor by producer and still
aren't till this day in 1967 the time
had come for Honda to spread its wings
they were going to go from two wheels to
four so Chiru Honda himself was excited
by the idea of building affordable
efficient cars
it was his lifelong dream Honda studied
small European cars such as the ones
developed by Fiat in the late 1960s the
new class of ultra compact cars seemed
to be the right direction
their first attempt was a two-door
pickup truck the Honda T 360 but this
vehicle didn't really gain much traction
at home or abroad but as fate would have
it the mood of the world was changing
and changing in Honda's favor as a
result of social change in the 1960s the
early 70s saw a growth of the
environmental movement those now a
growing dissatisfaction in regards to
the air quality in major US cities this
spawned the Clean Air Act of 1970 where
all manufacturers were to comply with
new strict regulations on vehicle
emissions in a rather telling moment the
three largest auto manufacturers in the
United States testified to Congress
adamant that these new rules were
impossible to achieve to the shock of
everyone our representative from Honda
said that it could be done as a result
the Americans didn't take on the
challenge but it was done as more of an
afterthought they put something called a
catalytic converter in their cars to
clean up the air after it had been
combusted in the engine Honda on the
other hand tried a different approach
they built a totally new revolutionary
engine from the ground up that passed
the emissions tests right off the bat
this revolutionary engine was called a
compound vortex controlled combustion
engine or CVCC for short the very first
car to use this engine with
be a smash hit it will be launched in
1973 and its name was the Honda Civic
some of the new cars tend to be Tuesday
when it comes to fuel all Honda engines
operate without a catalytic converter so
you can use either regular or unleaded
gas by this time gas prices in the
United States were high and the Civic
was lighter on fuel and reliable it was
the perfect car at the perfect time car
buyers were spreading the word that this
new little Japanese company called Honda
built reliable cars and soon they were
selling ten thousand civics per month
the sales continued and in just over a
decade Honda established themselves as
one of the world's leading car
manufacturers in the 1980s the company
set up a manufacturing branch in the US
and the Honda Accord was the first
international car to be made in the
United States in 1982 interestingly the
quality of the cars were the same as
their Japanese counterparts this
dispelled the age-old myth that American
workers were inferior to the Japanese
this proved once and for all that the
real problem was with American
management and not the workers
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as the 90s rolled around the strength of
the company continued in the Japanese
firm overtook Chrysler to become the
third biggest car manufacturer in the
United States but by 1993 they began to
slip as they were hit with a scandal
when it was discovered that a number of
Honda managers were accepting tens if
not hundreds of thousands of dollars
from dealers who wanted special
treatment and franchise options after
these issues Honda returned to what it
did best engineering so Jiro Honda may
have died in 1991 but his enthusiasm for
research and development was still very
much a part of who Honda were they led
the major manufacturers when it came to
emissions and regularly experimented
with alternative fuels one such
experiment was the Honda dream which one
the largest ever stole a powered car
race as the new century began their
efforts to improve efficiency paid off
as a sudden spike in oil prices meant
the consumers suddenly valued this
aspect far higher than ever before Honda
saw an increase in popularity in their
gas electric hybrids and with the Civic
GX in 2006 they were the first company
to make a natural gas powered car for
the general public
today Honda's image is much the same as
it's always been
they are still seen as a reliable
well-made brand who focus on efficiency
and great research and development Honda
is the eighth largest auto manufacturer
on the planet but interestingly they
make the most internal combustion
engines of any company clocking in at 14
million units last year Honda is on
track to produce over 5 million vehicles
this year the company has factories in
over 20 countries Honda currently has
about two hundred and eight thousand
employees they made a hundred and thirty
billion dollars in revenue in 2016 and
just under 30 billion in profit just for
comparison the top two Volkswagen and
Toyota both had revenues of 250 billion
and 45 billion respectively although
struggling in their local markets as
they have been for a while Honda's
future may in part be seen in
partnerships like the one they have with
General Motors where they're working on
creating a fuel cell to be released into
the market in 2020 while cars make up
70% of their revenue motorcycle sales in
the emerging markets especially India
reveals some mind-blowing numbers
they're selling 17 million motorcycles
in India annually compared to just half
a million in the United States the
company also makes a wide range of
motorized products everything from
outboard motors and boats to lawn mowers
hedge trimmers water pumps leaf blowers
and various types of generators just to
name a few
Honda has built 57 of their only
aircraft a jet called the H a 420 which
currently costs 4.5 million dollars per
unit probably one of their most
well-known was still interesting side
projects is the famous ASIMO robot which
stands for advanced step in innovative
mobility the robot is part of Honda's
research and development robotics
program which started back in 1986 but
they've come a long way since then and
yes although as sumo still may struggle
with stairs it's still an interesting
project 400 to have Honda's new robots
include a multi-purpose utility robot an
emotional companion and a robot that
serves as the wheelchair reimagined
Honda believes that robots should
understand human needs and improve lives
all right so almost at the end of the
video but before we wrap up let's look
at four interesting facts about Honda
number four in the world of Motorsports
Honda has the greatest number of
victories in all disciplines using the
Racing engineer knowledge Honda set to
work on building a reliable mid-engine
sports car the result was the Honda NSX
released in 1990 it was a stunning car
that went head-to-head with the likes of
Ferrari and Porsche the new NSX released
in 2016 has three electric motors and a
3.5 liter v6 turbo with a combined power
output of 573 horsepower this power is
put through a nine speed transmission
that propels the car from zero to 100
kilometers an hour in 2.9 seconds not
bad for Honda number three in 1981 the
Honda Accord was the first car to have
an onboard navigation system it wasn't a
GPS like we have today but a series of
manual maps with an onboard gyroscope to
calculate the car's position number two
the VTEC or variable valve timing and
lift electric control is a system
developed by Honda which results in high
performance at high rpm and lower fuel
consumption at low rpm
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number one soujiro Honda didn't care for
a traditional education as highlighted
by his mischief during school you see
back then his school gave grade reports
to children to give over to their
parents to view as a confirmation that
the parents had seen it the former's to
be stamped with a family seal the
tinkering so cheero created a stamp to
forge his family seal out of a used
bicycle pedal cover he even made stamps
for other children but ended up getting
busted in doing so Honda has been quoted
as saying I don't give a damn about a
diploma what I want is the knowledge he
also has a couple of other good quotes
for example the explanation of a
Japanese proverb it goes raised the sale
with your stronger hand and this means
go after the opportunities in life that
you are best equipped to do he also said
I'd sooner die than imitate people
that's why we work so hard because we
don't imitate and another one success is
99% failure and I think this last one is
pretty good when I take stock of life I
realized how important personal contact
is and how much more they are worth than
innovation of machines because people
open up thousands of experiences which
we would otherwise be unable to
understand so there you have it
that's a bit about the history size and
some facts about the Honda Motor Company
for me it's interesting to think that
such Hero Honda's ingenuity from a young
age and passion for quality carried
through with the company for the better
part of a century even when some of the
biggest auto manufacturers in the world
said that the environmental regulations
put upon them by the government was
impossible little Honda proved them all
wrong
through straight engineering and I think
that's pretty cool but anyway let me
know what you guys think in the comments
section below if you've just stumbled
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subscribe this has been to go there
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until next time I'll catch you again
soon for the next video
cheers guys have a good one
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