Editing Honda (section)

===Motorcycles===
{{For|a list of motorcycle products|list of Honda motorcycles}}
[[File:1953HondaCub.jpg|thumb|1953 Honda Cub on display at the [[Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum]], Birmingham, Alabama. The two-stroke single-cylinder motorcycle had a displacement of 58 cc and a top speed of {{cvt|25|mph|km/h|0|order=flip}}.]]
[[File:Honda Goldwing, GIMS 2019, Le Grand-Saconnex (GIMS0707).jpg|thumb|Honda [[Gold Wing]] bike]]

Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955.<ref name=Alexander2008/>
At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost three million motorcycles annually. By 2006, this figure had been reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic competitors.<ref name=Alexander2008/>

In 2017, India became the largest motorcycle market for Honda.<ref>{{cite news |title=Honda to launch Benly e in India? Scooter spied testing, check launch date, features and other details |url=https://zeenews.india.com/photos/business/honda-to-launch-benly-e-in-india-scooter-spied-testing-check-launch-date-features-and-other-details-2367061 |work=Zee News |date=2021-06-06 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=India becomes largest 2 wheeler markt for Honda globally, dethrones Indonesia|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-becomes-largest-2-wheeler-markt-for-honda-globally-dethrones-indonesia/articleshow/60164905.cms|access-date=6 November 2017|work=The Times of India|date=22 August 2017}}</ref> In India, Honda is leading in the scooters segment, with 59% market share.<ref>{{cite news|title=Honda eyes 17% share in bike market; 70% new outlets to be in rural areas|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/honda-eyes-17-share-in-bike-market-70-new-outlets-to-be-in-rural-areas-117091000212_1.html|access-date=6 November 2017|work=The Business Standard|date=11 September 2017}}</ref>

During the 1960s when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of the Japanese motorcycle market and began exporting to the United States. Working with the advertising agency [[Grey Advertising]], Honda created an innovative marketing campaign, using the slogan "[[You meet the nicest people on a Honda]]." In contrast to the prevailing negative stereotypes of motorcyclists in America as tough, antisocial rebels, this campaign suggested that Honda motorcycles were made for the everyman. The campaign was hugely successful; the ads ran for three years, and by the end of 1963 alone, Honda had sold 90,000 motorcycles.<ref name=Frank2003/>{{rp|=41–43}}

Taking Honda's story as an archetype of the smaller manufacturer entering a new market already occupied by highly dominant competitors, the story of their market entry, and their subsequent huge success in the US and around the world has been the subject of some academic controversy. Competing explanations have been advanced to explain Honda's strategy and the reasons for their success.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/dick.rumelt/Docs/Papers/HONDA |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120403041318/http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/dick.rumelt/Docs/Papers/HONDA |url-status= dead |archive-date= 3 April 2012 |title=The Many Faces of Honda |first=Richard P. |last=Rumelt |date=10 July 1995 |access-date=25 July 2014}}</ref>

The first of these explanations was put forward when, in 1975, the [[Boston Consulting Group]] (BCG) was commissioned by the UK government to write a report explaining why and how the British motorcycle industry had been out-competed by its Japanese competitors. The report concluded that the Japanese firms, including Honda, had sought a very high scale of production (they had made a large number of motorbikes) in order to benefit from [[economies of scale]] and [[learning curve]] effects. It blamed the decline of the British motorcycle industry on the failure of British managers to invest enough in their businesses to profit from economies of scale and [[economies of scope|scope]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Allen J. |last1=Morrison|title=Transnational corporations and business strategy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvQcQFFONzkC&pg=PA64|access-date=1 April 2012|year=1993|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-08537-3|pages=65–66}}</ref>

[[File:2004supercub.jpg|thumb|right|2004 [[Honda Super Cub]]]]

The second explanation was offered in 1984 by Richard Pascale, who had interviewed the Honda executives responsible for the firm's entry into the US market. As opposed to the tightly focused strategy of low cost and high scale that BCG accredited to Honda, Pascale found that their entry into the US market was a story of "miscalculation, serendipity, and organizational learning" – in other words, Honda's success was due to the adaptability and hard work of its staff, rather than any long-term strategy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morrison |first=Allen J. |title=Transnational corporations and business strategy |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1993 |isbn=0-415-08537-3 |pages=64–92}} <!-- one quote does not cover pages 64–92 -->{{dubious|date=July 2014}}</ref> For example, Honda's initial plan on entering the US market was to compete in large motorcycles, around 300&nbsp;cc. Honda's motorcycles in this class suffered performance and reliability problems when ridden the relatively long distances of the US highways.<ref name="Frank2003"/>{{rp|41–43}} When the team found that the scooters they were using to get themselves around their US base of [[San Francisco]] attracted positive interest from consumers they fell back on selling the [[Honda Super Cub|Super Cub]] instead.<ref name="Frank2003"/>{{rp|41–43}}

The most recent school of thought on Honda's strategy was put forward by [[Gary Hamel]] and [[C. K. Prahalad]] in 1989. Creating the concept of [[core competency|core competencies]] with Honda as an example, they argued that Honda's success was due to its focus on leadership in the technology of internal combustion engines.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Gary |last1=Hamel|first2=C. K. |last2=Prahalad|title=Competing for the future|url=https://archive.org/details/competingforfutu00hame_0|url-access=registration|access-date=1 April 2012|date=1 July 1994|publisher=Harvard Business Press|isbn=978-0-87584-416-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/competingforfutu00hame_0/page/204 204]}}</ref> For example, the high power-to-weight ratio engines Honda produced for its racing bikes provided technology and expertise which was transferable into mopeds. Honda's entry into the US motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a [[case study]] for teaching introductory strategy at [[business school]]s worldwide.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Sally H. |last1=Clarke|first2=Naomi R. |last2=Lamoreaux|first3=Steven W. |last3=Usselman|title=The Challenge of Remaining Innovative: Insights from Twentieth-Century American Business|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ho6hmHrCjCEC&pg=PA223|access-date=1 April 2012|date=10 March 2009|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-5892-5|page=223}}</ref>