Training Report Insights for Honda

A TRAINING REPORT
ON
“TITLE OF TRAINING”
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of Bachelor of Business Administration
JAI NARIAN VYAS UNIVERSITY, JODHPUR
Training Report Submitted to Submitted by
Mr. S.S.Ramdeo Name: KOUSIK TAK
Training Co-ordinator Enrollment No:
Training Supervised By
Company’s Supervisor’s Name
Designation
Organization
Session 2016-17
AISHWARYA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (A.C.E.)
A-9, K. N. Nagar, Opp. National Handloom (Pratap Nagar)
Jodhpur-342003 (Raj.)
Phone - (0291) 2670175
E-Mail – info@aishwaryacollege.edu.in

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr./Ms.___KOUSHIK TAK___________, Enrollment No.___________
has proceeded under my supervision his/her Training Report on “____________”
The work embodied in this report is original and is of the standard expected of an BBA student
and has not been submitted in part or full to this or any other university for the award of any
degree / diploma. He/She has completed all requirements of guidelines for project report and the
work is fit for evaluation
(Mr.S.S.Ramdeo)
Training Co-ordinator
Aishwarya College of Education

UNDERTAKING
I herby declare that total work of this Training Report entitled “________” in <company’s
Name> is an original work of mine is done during the month _________as part of Summer
Training under the guidance of ____________ (Name of Project Guide in Company) to the
best of my knowledge and beliefs the facts mentioned in the report are true.
Name of Student
Enrollment no.:
BBA Part IV

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank my Training Supervisor XYZ, <Designation>, <HONDA>,
Jodhpur for guiding me through my Industrial training. His encouragement, time
and effort are greatly appreciated.
I feel immense pleasure to express a deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Rishi Nepalia,
Principal, Aishwarya College of Education, Jodhpur who has given me an
opportunity to do training. I would also thankful to my Training Guide
Mr.S.S.Ramdeo and Faculties for their constant support and guidance. Their
valuable suggestions and helping hands has helped me to complete my training
successfully
Lastly I would like to thank all the employees of organization who offered their
opinions and suggestions throughout my Training period.
NAME OF CANDIDATE
KOUSIK TAK

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Company Profile
3. Importance & Scope
4. Swot Analysis
5. Research Objectives
6. HypothesisResearch Methodology
7. Conclusion
8. Suggestion
9. Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's
largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than
14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda surpassedNissan in 2001 to become the
second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer. As of August 2008, Honda
surpassed Chrysler as the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the United States. Honda is
the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in the world.
Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury
brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also
manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators,
amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics
research and released their ASIM Orobot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with
the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet,
scheduled to be released in 2011. Honda spends about 5% of its revenues into R&D.

History of Honda
From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda (本田宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō) had a great
interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at a Japanese tuning shop, Art Shokai, where
he tuned cars and entered them in races. A self-taught engineer, he later worked on a piston
design which he hoped to sell to Toyota. The first drafts of his design were rejected, and Soichiro
worked painstakingly to perfect the design, even going back to school and pawning his wife's
jewelry for collateral. Eventually, he won a contract with Toyota and built a factory to construct
pistons for them, which was destroyed in an earthquake. Due to a gasoline shortage
during World War II, Honda was unable to use his car, and his novel idea of attaching a small
engine to his bicycle attracted much curiosity. He then established the Honda Technical Research
Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Calling
upon 18,000 bicycle shop owners across Japan to take part in revitalizing a nation torn apart by
war, Soichiro received enough capital to engineer his first motorcycle, the Honda Cub. This
marked the beginning of Honda Motor Company, which would grow a short time later to be the
world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964.
The first production automobile from Honda was the T360 mini pick-up truck, which went on
sale in August 1963.[10]
Powered by a small 356 cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified
under the cheaper Kei car tax bracket.[citation needed]
The first production car from Honda was
the S500 sports car, which followed the T360 into production in October 1963. Its chain driven
rear wheels point to Honda's motorcycle origins.

Company Name
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Head Office
1-1, 2-chome, Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8556, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-3423-1111
Established
September 24, 1948
President & CEO
Takanobu Ito
Capital
¥86 billion (as of March 31, 2010)
Sales (Results of fiscal 2010)
Consolidated: ¥8,579,174 million
Unconsolidated: ¥2,717,736 million
Total number of employees
Consolidated: 176,815 (as of March 31, 2010)
Unconsolidated: 26,121 (as of March 31, 2010)
Consolidated subsidiaries
390 subsidiaries (as of March 31, 2010)
Chief Products
Motorcycles, automobiles, power products

CORPORATE PROFILE
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. operates under the basic principles of "Respect for the Individual"
and "The Three Joys" — commonly expressed as The Joy of Buying, The Joy of Selling and
The Joy of Creating. "Respect for the Individual" reflects our desire to respect the unique
character and ability of each individual person, trusting each other as equal partners in
order to do our best in every situation. Based on this, "The Three Joys" expresses our belief
and desire that each person working in, or coming into contact with our company, directly
or through or products, should share a sense of joy through that experience. In line with
these basic principles, since its establishment in 1948, Honda has remained on the leading
edge by creating new value and providing products of the highest quality at a reasonable
price, for worldwide customer satisfaction. In addition, the Company has conducted its
activities with a commitment to protecting the environment and enhancing safety in a
mobile society.
The Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of
the leading automakers. With a global network of 492* subsidiaries and affiliates accounted
for under the equity method, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of
products, ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars,
to earn the Company an outstanding reputation from customers worldwide.

Honda In India
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., (HSCI) was incorporated in December 1995 as a joint venture
between Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Japan and Siel Limited, a Siddharth Shriram Group company,
with a commitment to providing Honda’s latest passenger car models and technologies, to the
Indian customers. The total investment made by the company in India till date is Rs 1620 crores
in Greater Noida plant and Rs 784 crores in Tapukara plant.
HSCI’s first state-of-the-art manufacturing unit was set up at Greater Noida, U.P in 1997. The
green-field project is spread across 150 acres of land (over 6,00,000 sq. m.).
The annual capacity of this facility is 100,000 units. The company’s second manufacturing
facility is in Tapukara, Rajasthan. This facility is spread over 600 acres and will have an initial

production capacity of 60,000 units per annum, with an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore. The
first phase of this facility was inaugurated in September 2008.
The company’s product range includes Honda Jazz, Honda City, Honda Civic and Honda Accord
which are produced at the Greater Noida facility with an indigenization level of 77%, 76%, 74%
and 28% respectively. The CR-V is imported from Japan as Completely Built Units. Honda’s
models are strongly associated with advanced design and technology, apart from its established
qualities of durability, reliability and fuel-efficiency.

World Wide Message By Honda
Striving to become a company that society wants to exist by strengthening the core
principles of Honda
Looking back over the past fiscal year
Last year brought positive signs of economic recovery, including increased consumer spending
in Japan and the U.S. and expected economic expansion in Asia and developing nations. At the
same time, concerns about the economic downturn, credit crunch, and unemployment persisted
in the U.S. and Europe. Moreover, regardless of regional differences, there was new movement
to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, primarily CO2. In these ways, 2009 showed that
further management effort and environmental action were required in the near future. Under such
circumstances, Honda responded swiftly and specifically to the needs of society and customers in
each region. Through research and development, we worked vigorously to produce advanced
technologies for safety and environmental requirements. Through production, we addressed
changes in regional needs in a flexible manner, establishing a “mutually complementary” system
of manufacturing parts and finished vehicles in each region. Through sales, we released products
with new value by enhancing eco-responsible vehicles and widened the range of our product
lineup. As a result, over the last year alone, we delivered motorcycles, automobiles, and general-
purpose products to a total of more than 23 million customers around the world.

Striving to become a company that society wants to exist
Due to global political and economic changes, the business environment surround- ing Honda
remains uncertain amid growing social concern about environmental challenges. However, no
matter how considerable these changes may be, Honda will win the trust of our customers and
appeal to customers as before by creating technologies and products with new value that
anticipate customer needs and social requirements. We believe this is the way for Honda to
proceed, based on our founding principles. To achieve these goals, Honda will work to improve
product quality, safety, and environmental performance as well as promoting research and
development of next-generation mobility technologies such as fuel-cell electric vehicles and
battery-powered EVs. Additionally, we will focus on future product development to expand the
market for hybrid vehicles, which are currently the most effective in reducing CO2 emissions.
And, we will continue our efforts to become a company that society wants to exist through
global activities to minimize environmental impact in all of our business activities including
production, distribution, and sales, while promoting safe driving and engagement in other social
activities.

Manufacturing & Distribution
Strengthening our manufacturing system from the perspective of our customers and the
environment
Customer needs vary depending on the region. To deliver products that satisfy customers in all
regions, Honda established a manufacturing system that rapidly and flexibly responds to
customer requests at all production bases around the world. With this manufacturing system, we
are striving to further improve the quality of our products and minimize our environmental
footprint during manufacturing.
Thin-membrane solar cell panels at Dongfeng Honda (Wuhan, China)
Strengthening manufacturing capabilities and environmental measures on a global basis
Based on its commitment to build products close to the customer, Honda has pursued local
production from its early days. We first began overseas motorcycle production in Belgium in
1963 and became the first Japanese automaker to produce automobiles in the U.S. in 1982. By
focusing on localization early on, even in the areas of development and sales, we have been able
to respond to changes in product demand and supply more promptly and increase our quality and
cost competitiveness in each market. Moreover, we have been working on establishing a

mutually complementary parts and vehicle manufacturing network among countries within a
region so that we can respond to changing demand in each region more effectively and flexibly.
We have also centered on activities that improve quality at production bases around the world
and that reduce environmental impacts during manufacturing and distribution. In 2009, we began
operations at the Ogawa plant in Japan with extremely high resource and energy efficiency.
Meanwhile, we are promoting the installation of solar panels at our offices and plants. Through
improved production systems that take into consideration regional characteristics and enhanced
environmental measures, we will flexibly and effectively provide high-quality products in an
environmentally responsible way.
Motorcycle plant (Thailand)
Power products assembly (France)

Corporate profile and divisions
Honda headquarters building in Japan
Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo,
Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland.
The company has assembly plants around the globe. These plants are located in China, the
United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia,
India, Thailand, Turkey and Perú. As of July 2010, 89 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold
in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2 percent a year earlier.
This shields profits from the yen’s advance to a 15-year high against the dollar.
Honda's Net Sales and Other Operating Revenue by Geographical Regions in 2007

Geographic Region Total revenue (in millions of ¥)
Japan 1,681,190
North America 5,980,876
Europe 1,236,757
Asia 1,283,154
Others 905,163
American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is
headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate
headquarters in Markham, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008; their manufacturing
division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created
joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in
India, Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, and Honda Atlas in Pakistan.

Current market position
With high fuel prices and a weak U.S. economy in June 2008, Honda reported a 1% sales
increase while its rivals, including the Detroit Big Three and Toyota, have reported double-digit
losses. Honda's sales were up almost 20 percent from the same month last year. The Civic and
the Accord were in the top five list of sales. Analysts have attributed this to two main factors.
First, Honda's product lineup consists of mostly small to mid-size, highly fuel-efficient vehicles.
Secondly, over the last ten years, Honda has designed its factories to be flexible, in that they can
be easily retooled to produce any Honda model that may be in-demand at the moment.
Nonetheless, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota, were still not immune to the global financial crisis of
2008, as these companies reduced their profitability forecasts. The economic crisis has been
spreading to other important players in the vehicle related industries as well. In November 2009
the Nihon Keizai Shinbun reported that Honda Motor exports have fallen 64.1%.
At the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, Honda presented the Li Nian ("concept" or "idea") 5-door
hatchback and announced that they were looking to develop an entry-level brand exclusively for
the Chinese market similar to Toyota's Scion brand in the USA. The brand would be developed
by a 50-50 joint-venture established in 2007 with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group.
Following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 Honda announced plans to halve
production at its UK plants. The decision was made to put staff at the Swindon plant on a 2 day
week until the end of May as the manufacturer struggled to source supplies from Japan. It's
thought around 22,500 cars were produced during this period.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF HONDA
Dream The Impossible!!!
POWER OF DREAMS , HONDA
Super Cub (2008)
the Super Cub made Honda what it is today. In 2008, 50 years and 60 million units later, the
Super Cub still continues to evolve.
Engines (2008)
Honda has announced "Engines," a new global advertisement aimed at increasing awareness of
how Honda's advanced engines can help in preserving the environment.

FCX (2007)
The global ad "FCX Concept" emphasizes Honda’s leadership in environmental performance
through advanced technology.
sky (2006)
"sky" signifies Honda's realization of a dream to bring mobility for everyone to the third
dimension, the sky, with the introduction of the HondaJet.

cap/ (2006)
The symbolic use of the Honda green cap, worn by Honda Associates, expresses two messages -
the fun that Honda employees enjoy through working at Honda and how that fun is embedded in
every Honda automobile, motorcycle and power product.
In the animated movie "cap/," a boy picks up a green cap - not just any cap, but a Honda green
cap - and once he wears it, is taken to the world of Honda where he experiences the creativity
that every Honda employee brings to the company - turning dreams such as ASIMO and
HondaJet into reality, and making Honda one of the most innovative companies in the world.
jet/ (2005)

The motif of Honda’s new Global Ad is the experimental HondaJet, which made its debut in
July, 2005 at “Airventure,” a prominent aircraft event in the USA. HondaJet realizes a Honda
founder’s dream.
The movie “jet/” is set in a quiet airstrip. Two men in blue overalls ride a tattered Super Cub
down a deserted hangar. Who could tell that these two, Richard Gritter and Dave West, were
indeed the test pilots for the experimental HondaJet, as they flew off into the evening sky...
run/ (2005)
Since development of the first ASIMO in 2000, ASIMO has grown in popularity around the
world, and has developed a global image of adorability and friendliness. The key aim in Honda’s
new global branding advertisement is to maintain ASIMO’s global image, whilst communicating
the new ASIMO prototype’s feature (ASIMO runs!) with a touch of humor. In 60” movie “run/”,
the new ASIMO prototype and an elderly gentleman engage in a little race down an airport’s
moving walkway.

HondaJet (2005)
The motif for this year’s worldwide corporate advertising is the HondaJet. In 2003, a hundred
years after the Wright Brothers made their pioneering flight; the HondaJet soared over North
Carolina on its maiden flight. Honda has again realized the power of dreams, by adding a new
dimension to the pursuit of mobility. We want to share this significant achievement with the
world, and with this in mind, came the motivation for this advertisement.
Honda FCX (2003)
The sound of a grandfather clock keeps pace with the FCX as it drives around. In the TV
commercial, the FCX is shown symbolizing the opening to a new era of mobility. In addition, a
corporate ad was placed on January 3, 2003 to all major newspapers in Japan showcasing the

theme of Honda’s new technology. The TV commercial uses a visual background that reflects
Honda’s challenging history and expresses Honda’s spirit, “an ultimate clean air vehicle for all
human beings”. The development of the fuel cell vehicle FCX, - has reinforced our belief in the
power of dreams.
WGP 500th Victory (2001)
At the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix opening event held at the Suzuka
circuit on April 8, 2001, Honda achieved it's record setting 500th win. It has been 40 years since
it's first win there in 1961. With unwavering passion and the result of win upon win there has
been no greater point of progress. In April 2000 all major Japanese newspapers published
corporate advertisements with the Honda motorcycle challenge spirit as it’s theme.

F1 200 Challenge (2000)
In the FIA Formula1 World Championship 14th race event held on September 10, 2000, Honda
set records in the F1 200 series. Since it’s first appearance in the German Grand Prix in 1964,
Honda has continued to compete in the top international racing events around the world. For the
Japan Grand Prix held at the Suzuka circuit over October 2000, all major Japanese newspapers
published corporate advertisements with Honda’s F1 challenge history as it’s theme.

Products
Automobiles
2008 Honda Accord (USA spec)
Eighth Generation Honda Civic (Asian Version)
Honda's global lineup consists of the Fit, Civic, Accord, Insight, CR-V, and Odyssey. An early
proponent of developing vehicles to cater to different needs and markets worldwide, Honda's
lineup varies by country and may feature vehicles exclusive to that region. A few examples are

the latest Acura TL luxury sedan and the Ridgeline, Honda's first light-duty uni-body pickup
truck. Both were engineered primarily in North America and are exclusively produced and sold
there.
The Civic is a line of compact cars developed and manufactured by Honda. In North America,
the Civic is the second-longest continuously running nameplate from a Japanese manufacturer;
only its perennial rival, the Toyota Corolla, introduced in 1968, has been in production
longer. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North
America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded. Having gone through several
generational changes, the Civic has become larger and more upmarket, and it currently slots
between the Fit and Accord.
Honda increased global production in September 2008 to meet demand for small cars in the U.S.
and emerging markets. The company is shuffling U.S. production to keep factories busy and
boost car output, while building fewer minivans and sport utility vehicles as light trucksales fall.
Honda produces Civic hybrid, a hybrid electric vehicle that competes with the Toyota Prius, and
also produces the Insight and CR-Z.
Its first entrance into the pickup segment, the light duty Ridgeline, won Truck of the Year
from Motor Trend magazine in 2006. Also in 2006, the redesigned Civic won Car of the
Year from the magazine, giving Honda a rare double win of Motor Trend honors.
It is reported that Honda plans to increase hybrid sales in Japan to more than 20% of its total
sales in fiscal year 2011, from 14.8% in previous year.
Five of United States Environmental Protection Agency's top ten most fuel-efficient cars from
1984 to 2010 comes from Honda, more than any other automakers. The five models are: 2000-

2006 Honda Insight (53 mpg-US/4.4 L/100 km; 64 mpg-imp combined), 1986-1987 Honda Civic
Coupe HF (46 mpg-US/5.1 L/100 km; 55 mpg-imp combined), 1994-1995 Honda Civic hatchback
VX (43 mpg-US/5.5 L/100 km; 52 mpg-imp mpg combined), 2006- Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg-
US/5.6 L/100 km; 50 mpg-imp combined), and 2010- Honda Insight (41 mpg-US/5.7 L/100 km;
49 mpg-imp combined). The ACEEE has also rated the Civic GX as the greenest car in America
for seven consecutive years.
Motorcycles
Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in
1955. At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost 3 million motorcycles annually. By 2006
this figure had reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic
competitors.
During the 1960s, when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of the Japanese
motorcycle market and began exporting to the U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
The first of these explanations was put forward when, in 1975, 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 scope.
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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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. For example, Honda’s initial plan on entering the U.S.
was to compete in large motorcycles, around 300 cc. It was only when the team found that the

scooters they were using to get themselves around their U.S. base of San Francisco attracted
positive interest from consumers that they came up with the idea of selling the Super Cub.
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 ofcore 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. 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 U.S. motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a case study for teaching
introductory strategy at business schools worldwide.
Automobile
Rubens Barrichello driving for Honda

Honda entered Formula One as a constructor for the first time in the 1964 season at the German
Grand Prix with Ronnie Bucknum at the wheel. 1965 saw the addition of Richie Ginther to the
team, who scored Honda's first point at the Belgian Grand Prix, and Honda's first win at
the Mexican Grand Prix. 1967 saw their next win at the Italian Grand Prix with John Surtees as
their driver. In 1968, Jo Schlesser was killed in a Honda RA302 at the French Grand Prix. This
racing tragedy, coupled with their commercial difficulties selling automobiles in the United
States, prompted Honda to withdraw from all international motorsport that year.
After a learning year in 1965, Honda-powered Brabhams dominated the 1966 French Formula
Two championship in the hands of Jack Brabhamand Denny Hulme. As there was no European
Championship that season, this was the top F2 championship that year. In the early 1980s Honda
returned to F2, supplying engines to Ron Tauranac's Ralt team. Tauranac had designed the
Brabham cars for their earlier involvement. They were again extremely successful. In a related
exercise, John Judd's Engine Developments company produced a turbo "Brabham-Honda"
engine for use in IndyCar racing. It won only one race, in 1988 for Bobby Rahal at Pocono.
Honda returned to Formula One in 1983, initially with another Formula Two partner,
the Spirit team, before switching abruptly to Williams in 1984. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,
Honda powered cars won six consecutive Formula One Constructors
Championships. WilliamsF1 won the crown in 1986 and 1987. Honda switched allegiance again
in 1988. New partners Team McLaren won the title in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. Honda
withdrew from Formula One at the end of 1992, although the related Mugen-Honda company
maintained a presence up to the end of 1999, winning four races with Ligier and Jordan Grand
Prix.

Honda debuted in the CART IndyCar World Series as a works supplier in 1994. The engines
were far from competitive at first, but after development, the company powered six consecutive
drivers championships. In 2003, Honda transferred its effort to the rival IRL IndyCar Series. In
2004, Honda-powered cars overwhelmingly dominated the IndyCar Series, winning 14 of 16
IndyCar races, including the Indianapolis 500, and claimed the IndyCar Series Manufacturers'
Championship, Drivers' Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. In 2006, Honda became the
sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series, including the Indianapolis 500. In the 2006
Indianapolis 500, for the first time in Indianapolis 500 history, the race was run without a single
engine problem.
During 1998, Honda considered returning to Formula One with their own team. The project was
aborted after the death of its technical director, Harvey Postlethwaite. Honda instead came back
as an official engine supplier to British American Racing (BAR) and Jordan Grand Prix. Honda
bought a stake in the BAR team in 2004 before buying the team outright at the end of 2005,
becoming a constructor for the first time since the 1960s. Honda won the 2006 Hungarian Grand
Prix with driver Jenson Button.
It was announced on 5 December 2008, that Honda would be exiting Formula One with
immediate effect due to the 2008 global economic crisis. The team was sold to former team
principal Ross Brawn, renamed Brawn GP and subsequently Mercedes GP.
Honda became an official works team in the British Touring Car Championship in 2010.

Motorcycles
Honda RC212V raced by Dani Pedrosa
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) was formed in 1982. The company combines participation in
motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of high potential racing machines.
Its racing activities are an important source for the creation of leading edge technologies used in
the development of Honda motorcycles. HRC also contributes to the advancement of motorcycle
sports through a range of activities that include sales of production racing motorcycles, support
for satellite teams, and rider education programs.
Soichiro Honda, being a race driver himself, could not stay out of international motorsport. In
1959, Honda entered five motorcycles into the Isle of Man TT race, the most prestigious

motorcycle race in the world. While always having powerful engines, it took until 1961 for
Honda to tune their chassis well enough to allow Mike Hailwood to claim their first Grand
Prix victories in the 125 and 250 cc classes. Hailwood would later pick up their first Senior TT
wins in 1966 and 1967. Honda's race bikes were known for their "sleek & stylish design" and
exotic engine configurations, such as the 5-cylinder, 22,000 rpm, 125 cc bike and their 6-cylinder
250 cc and 297 cc bikes.
In 1979, Honda returned to Grand Prix motorcycle racing with the monocoque-framed, four-
stroke NR500. The FIM rules limited engines to four cylinders, so the NR500 featured non-
circular, 'race-track', cylinders, each with 8 valves and two connecting rods, in order to provide
sufficient valve area to compete with the dominant two-stroke racers. Unfortunately, it seemed
Honda tried to accomplish too much at one time and the experiment failed. For the 1982 season,
Honda debuted their first two-stroke race bike, the NS500 and in 1983, Honda won their first
500 cc Grand Prix World Championship with Freddie Spencer. Since then, Honda has become a
dominant marque in motorcycle Grand Prix racing, winning a plethora of top level titles with
riders such as Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi .
In motocross, Honda has claimed six motocross world championships. In the World Enduro
Championship, Honda has captured six titles, most recently with Stefan Merriman in 2003 and
with Mika Ahola in 2007 and 2008.
In observed trials, Honda has claimed three world championships with Belgian rider Eddy
Lejeune.

Marketing
Honda's official slogan is "The Power of Dreams". They have never used this slogan to sell their
products. Mr. Honda's belief is that well built products will sell themselves.
In 2003, Honda released its Cog advertisement in the UK and on the Internet. To make the ad,
the engineers at Honda constructed a Rube Goldberg Machine made entirely out of car parts
from a Europe Domestic Market Honda Accord (upon which the USDM Acura TSX is based).
To the chagrin of the engineers at Honda, all the parts were taken from two of only six hand-
assembled pre-production models of the Accord. The advertisement depicted a single cog which
sets off a chain of events that ends with the Honda Accord moving and Garrison Keillor speaking
the tagline, "Isn't it nice when things just... work?" It took 606 takes to get it perfect.[71]
In 2004, they produced the Grrr advert, usually immediately followed by a shortened version of
the 2005 Impossible Dream advert.
A post 2005 style Honda dealership in Moncton, Canada

In December 2005, Honda released The Impossible Dream a two-minute panoramic
advertisement filmed in New Zealand, Japan and Argentina which illustrates the founder's dream
to build performance vehicles. While singing the song "Impossible Dream", a man reaches for
his racing helmet, leaves his trailer on a minibike, then rides a succession of vintage Honda
vehicles: a motorcycle, then a car, then a powerboat, then goes over a waterfall only to reappear
piloting a hot air balloon, with Garrison Keillor saying "I couldn't have put it better myself" as
the song ends. The song is from the 1960s musical Man Of La Mancha, sung by Andy Williams.
In 2006, Honda released its Choir advertisement, for the UK and the internet. This featured a 60-
person choir who sang the car noises as film of the Honda Civic are shown.
For the last several years in the United States, during model close-out sales for the current year
before the start of the new model year, Honda's advertising has featured an animated
character known simply as Mr. Opportunity, voiced by Rob Paulsen. The casual looking man
talks about various deals offered by Honda and ends with the phrase "I'm Mr. Opportunity, and
I'm knockin'", followed by him "knocking" on the television screen or "thumping" the speaker at
the end of radio ads. Also, commercials for Honda's international hatchback, the Jazz, are
parodies of well-known pop culture images such as Tetris and Thomas The Tank Engine.
In late 2006, Honda released an ad with ASIMO exploring a museum, looking at the exhibits
with almost child-like wonderment (spreading out its arms in the aerospace exhibit, waving hello
to an astronaut suit that resembles him, etc.), while Garrison Keillor ruminates on progress. It
concludes with the tagline: "More forwards please".
Honda also sponsored ITV's coverage of Formula One in the UK for 2007. However they had
announced that they would not continue in 2008 due to the sponsorship price requested by ITV
being too high.

In May 2007, focuses on their strengths in racing and the use of the Red H badge — a symbol of
what is termed as "Hondamentalism". The campaign highlights the lengths that Honda engineers
go to in order to get the most out of an engine, whether it is for bikes, cars, powerboats — even
lawnmowers. Honda released its Hondamentalism campaign. In the TV spot, Garrison Keillor
says, "An engineer once said to build something great is like swimming in honey", while Honda
engineers in white suits walk and run towards a great light, battling strong winds and flying
debris, holding on to anything that will keep them from being blown away. Finally one of the
engineers walks towards a red light, his hand outstretched. A web address is shown for the
Hondamentalism website. The digital campaign aims to show how visitors to the site share many
of the Hondamentalist characteristics.
At the beginning of 2008, Honda released - the Problem Playground. The advert outlines
Honda's environmental responsibility, demonstrating a hybrid engine, more efficient solar panels
and the FCX Clarity, a hydrogen powered car. The 90 second advert features large scale puzzles,
involving Rubik's cubes, large shapes and a 3-dimensional puzzle.
On 29 May 2008, Honda, in partnership with Channel 4, broadcast a live advertisement. It
showed skydivers jumping from an aeroplane over Spain and forming the letters H, O, N, D and
A in mid-air. This live advertisement is generally agreed to be the first of its kind on British
television. The advert lasted three minutes. The next flight of one of the two planes involved
resulted in a fatal crash as the plane broke apart in mid-air.[72]
In 2009, American Honda released the Dream the Impossible documentary series, a collection of
5-8 minute web vignettes that focus on the core philosophies of Honda. Current short films
include Failure: The Secret to Success, Kick Out the Ladder and Mobility 2088. They feature

Honda employees as well as Danica Patrick, Christopher Guest, Ben Bova, Chee Pearlman, Joe
Johnston and Orson Scott Card. The film series plays at dreams.honda.com.
Sports
In Australia, Honda advertised heavily during most motor racing telecasts, and was the official
sponsor of the 2006 FIA Formula 1 telecast on broadcaster channel "Ten". In fact, it was the only
manufacturer involved in the 2006 Indy Racing League season. In a series of adverts promoting
the history of Honda's racing heritage, Honda claimed it "built" cars that won 72 Formula 1
Grand Prix. Skeptics have accused Honda of interpreting its racing history rather liberally,
saying that virtually all of the 72 victories were achieved by Honda powered(engined) machines,
whereas the cars themselves were designed and built by Lotus F1, Williams F1, and McLaren F1
teams, respectively. However, former and current staff of the McLaren F1 team have reiterated
that Honda contributed more than just engines and provided various chassis, tooling, and
aerodynamic parts as well as funding. Ayrton Senna, arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time,
repeatedly stated that Honda probably played the most significant role in his three world
championships. He had immense respect for founder, Soichiro Honda, and had a good
relationship with Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the chairman of Honda at that time. Senna once called
Honda "the greatest company in the world".
As part of its marketing campaign, Honda is an official partner and sponsor of the National
Hockey League, the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL,. The "Honda Sports Award" is given to the
best female athlete in each of twelve college sports in the United States. One of the twelve
Honda Sports Award winners is chosen to receive theHonda-Broderick Cup, as "Collegiate
Woman Athlete of the Year."

Marketing Strategies
It has described a category scheme consisting of three general types of strategies that are
commonly used by businesses to achieve and maintain competitive advantage. These three
generic strategies are defined along two dimensions: strategic scope and strategic
strength. Strategic scope is a demand-side dimension and looks at the size and composition of the
market you intend to target. Strategic strength is a supply-side dimension and looks at the
strength or core competency of the firm. In particular he identified two competencies that he felt
were most important: product differentiation and product cost (efficiency).
He originally ranked each of the three dimensions (level of differentiation, relative product cost,
and scope of target market) as either low, medium, or high, and juxtaposed them in a three
dimensional matrix. That is, the category scheme was displayed as a 3 by 3 by 3 cubes. But most
of the 27 combinations were not viable.

In his 1980 classic Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors,
Porter simplifies the scheme by reducing it down to the three best strategies. They are cost
leadership, differentiation, and market segmentation (or focus). Market segmentation is narrow
in scope while both cost leadership and differentiation are relatively broad in market scope.
Empirical research on the profit impact of marketing strategy indicated that firms with a high
market share were often quite profitable, but so were many firms with low market share. The
least profitable firms were those with moderate market share. This was sometimes referred to as
the hole in the middle problem. Porter’s explanation of this is that firms with high market share
were successful because they pursued a cost leadership strategy and firms with low market share
were successful because they used market segmentation to focus on a small but profitable market
niche. Firms in the middle were less profitable because they did not have a viable generic
strategy.
.
Since that time, empirical research has indicated companies pursuing both differentiation and
low-cost strategies may be more successful than companies pursuing only one strategy.[1]
Some commentators have made a distinction between cost leadership, that is, low cost strategies,
and best cost strategies. They claim that a low cost strategy is rarely able to provide a sustainable
competitive advantage. In most cases firms end up in price wars. Instead, they claim a best cost
strategy is preferred. This involves providing the best value for a relatively low price.

Cost Leadership Strategy
This strategy involves the firm winning market share by appealing to cost-conscious or price-
sensitive customers. This is achieved by having the lowest prices in the target market segment, or
at least the lowest price to value ratio (price compared to what customers receive). To succeed at
offering the lowest price while still achieving profitability and a high return on investment, the
firm must be able to operate at a lower cost than its rivals. There are three main ways to achieve
this.
The first approach is achieving a high asset turnover. In service industries, this may mean for
example a restaurant that turns tables around very quickly, or an airline that turns around flights
very fast. In manufacturing, it will involve production of high volumes of output. These
approaches mean fixed costs are spread over a larger number of units of the product or service,
resulting in a lower unit cost, i.e. the firm hopes to take advantage of economies of
scale and experience curve effects. For industrial firms, mass production becomes both a strategy
and an end in itself. Higher levels of output both require and result in high market share, and
create an entry barrier to potential competitors, who may be unable to achieve the scale
necessary to match the firms low costs and prices.
The second dimension is achieving low direct and indirect operating costs. This is achieved by
offering high volumes of standardized products, offering basic no-frills products and limiting
customization and personalization of service. Production costs are kept low by using fewer
components, using standard components, and limiting the number of models produced to ensure
larger production runs. Overheads are kept low by paying low wages, locating premises in low

rent areas, establishing a cost-conscious culture, etc. Maintaining this strategy requires a
continuous search for cost reductions in all aspects of the business. This will include outsourcing,
controlling production costs, increasing asset capacity utilization, and minimizing other costs
including distribution, R&D and advertising. The associated distribution strategy is to obtain the
most extensive distribution possible. Promotional strategy often involves trying to make a virtue
out of low cost product features.
The third dimension is control over the supply/procurement chain to ensure low costs. This could
be achieved by bulk buying to enjoy quantity discounts, squeezing suppliers on price, instituting
competitive bidding for contracts, working with vendors to keep inventories low using methods
such as Just-in-Time purchasing or Vendor-Managed Inventory. Wal-Mart is famous for
squeezing its suppliers to ensure low prices for its goods. Dell Computer initially achieved
market share by keeping inventories low and only building computers to order. Other
procurement advantages could come from preferential access to raw materials, or backward
integration.
than the major airlines, were able to achieve market share growth by offering cheap, no-frills
services at prices much cheaper than those of the larger incumbents.
A cost leadership strategy may have the disadvantage of lower customer loyalty, as price-
sensitive customers will switch once a lower-priced substitute is available. A reputation as a cost
leader may also result in a reputation for low quality, which may make it difficult for a firm to
rebrand itself or its products if it chooses to shift to a differentiation strategy in future.

Differentiation Strategy
Differentiate the products in some way in order to compete successfully. Examples of the
successful use of a differentiation strategy are Hero Honda, Asian Paints, HLL, Nike athletic
shoes, Perstorp BioProducts, Apple Computer, and Mercedes-Benz automobiles.
A differentiation strategy is appropriate where the target customer segment is not price-sensitive,
the market is competitive or saturated, customers have very specific needs which are possibly
under-served, and the firm has unique resources and capabilities which enable it to satisfy these
needs in ways that are difficult to copy. These could include patents or other Intellectual Property
(IP), unique technical expertise (e.g. Apple's design skills or Pixar's animation prowess), talented
personnel (e.g. a sports team's star players or a brokerage firm's star traders), or innovative
processes. Successful brand management also results in perceived uniqueness even when the
physical product is the same as competitors. This way, Chiquita was able to brand bananas,
Starbucks could brand coffee, and Nike could brand sneakers. Fashion brands rely heavily on
this form of image differentiation.
Focus or Strategic Scope
This dimension is not a separate strategy per se, but describes the scope over which the company
should compete based on cost leadership or differentiation. The firm can choose to compete in
the mass market (like Wal-Mart) with a broad scope, or in a defined, focused market segment
with a narrow scope. In either case, the basis of competition will still be either cost leadership or
differentiation.

In adopting a narrow focus, the company ideally focuses on a few target markets (also called a
segmentation strategy or niche strategy). These should be distinct groups with specialized needs.
The choice of offering low prices or differentiated products/services should depend on the needs
of the selected segment and the resources and capabilities of the firm. It is hoped that by focusing
your marketing efforts on one or two narrow market segments and tailoring your marketing
mix to these specialized markets, you can better meet the needs of that target market. The firm
typically looks to gain a competitive advantage through product innovation and/or brand
marketing rather than efficiency. It is most suitable for relatively small firms but can be used by
any company. A focused strategy should target market segments that are less vulnerable to
substitutes or where a competition is weakest to earn above-average return on investment.
Examples of firm using a focus strategy include Southwest Airlines, which provides short-haul
point-to-point flights in contrast to the hub-and-spoke model of mainstream carriers, and Family
Dollar.
In adopting a broad focus scope, the principle is the same: the firm must ascertain the needs and
wants of the mass market, and compete either on price (low cost) or differentiation (quality,
brand and customization) depending on its resources and capabilities. Wal Mart has a broad
scope and adopts a cost leadership strategy in the mass market. Pixar also targets the mass
market with its movies, but adopts a differentiation strategy, using its unique capabilities in
story-telling and animation to produce signature animated movies that are hard to copy, and for
which customers are willing to pay to see and own. Apple also targets the mass market with its
iPhone and iPod products, but combines this broad scope with a differentiation strategy based on
design, branding and user experience that enables it to charge a price premium due to the
perceived unavailability of close substitutes.

Recent developments
Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema (1993) in their book The Discipline of Market Leaders have
modified Porter's three strategies to describe three basic "value disciplines" that can create
customer value and provide a competitive advantage. They are operational excellence, product
leadership, and customer intimacy.
Criticisms of generic strategies
Several commentators have questioned the use of generic strategies claiming they lack
specificity, lack flexibility, and are limiting.
In particular, Miller (1992) questions the notion of being "caught in the middle". He claims that
there is a viable middle ground between strategies. Many companies, for example, have entered a
market as a niche player and gradually expanded. According to Baden-Fuller and Stopford
(1992) the most successful companies are the ones that can resolve what they call "the dilemma
of opposites".
A popular post-Porter model was presented by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne in their
1999 Harvard Business Review article "Creating New Market Space". In this article they
described a "value innovation" model in which companies must look outside their present
paradigms to find new value propositions. Their approach fundamentally goes against Porter's
concept that a firm must focus either on cost leadership or on differentiation. They later went on
to publish their ideas in the book Blue Ocean Strategy.An up-to-date critique of generic
strategies and their limitations, including Porter, appears in Bowman, C. (2008) Generic
strategies: a substitute for thinking? [1]

Electric and alternative fuel vehicles
2009 Honda Civic GX hooked up to Phill refueling system
Top: Brazilian flexible-fuel Honda Civic. Below: U.S. Honda Civic Hybrid.
2010 Honda Insight hybrid electric vehicle(Second generation).

Compressed Natural Gas
The Honda Civic GX is the only purpose-built natural gas vehicle (NGV) commercially
available in some parts of the U.S. The Honda Civic GX first appeared in 1998 as a factory-
modified Civic LX that had been designed to run exclusively on compressed natural gas. The car
looks and drives just like a contemporary Honda Civic LX, but does not run on gasoline. In
2001, the Civic GX was rated the cleanest-burning internal combustion engine in the world by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
First leased to the City of Los Angeles, in 2005, Honda started offering the GX directly to the
public through factory trained dealers certified to service the GX. Before that, only fleets were
eligible to purchase a new Civic GX. In 2006, the Civic GX was released in New York, making
it the second state where the consumer is able to buy the car. Home refueling is available for the
GX with the addition of the Phill Home Refueling Appliance.
Flexible-fuel
Honda's Brazilian subsidiary launched flexible-fuel versions for the Honda Civic and Honda
Fit in late 2006. As others Brazilian flex-fuel vehicles, these models run on any blend
of hydrous ethanol (E100) and E20-E25 gasoline. Initially, and in order to test the market
preferences, the carmaker decided to produce a limited share of the vehicles with flex-fuel
engines, 33 percent of the Civic production and 28 percent of the Fit models. Also, the sale price
for the flex-fuel version was higher than the respective gasoline versions, around US$1,000
premium for the Civic, and US$650 for the Fit, despite the fact that all other flex-fuel vehicles

sold in Brazil had the same tag price as their gasoline versions. In July 2009, Honda launched in
the Brazilian market its third flexible-fuel car, the Honda City.
During the last two months of 2006, both flex-fuel models sold 2,427 cars against 8,546
gasoline-powered automobiles, jumping to 41,990 flex-fuel cars in 2007, and reaching 93,361 in
2008. Due to the success of the flex versions, by early 2009 a hundred percent of Honda's
automobile production for the Brazilian market is now flexible-fuel, and only a small percentage
of gasoline version is produced in Brazil for exports.
In March 2009, Honda launched in the Brazilian market the first flex-fuel motorcycle in the
world. Produced by its Brazilian subsidiary Moto Honda da Amazônia, the CG 150 Titan Mix is
sold for around US$2,700.
Hybrid electric
In late 1999, Honda launched the first commercial hybrid electric car sold in the U.S. market ,
the Honda Insight, just one month before the introduction of the Toyota Prius, and initially sold
for US$20,000. The first-generation Insight was produced from 2000 to 2006 and had afuel
economy of 70 miles per US gallon (3.4 L/100 km; 84 mpg-imp) for the EPA's highway rating, the
most fuel-efficient mass-produced car at the time. Total global sales for the Insight amounted to
only around 18,000 vehicles.
Honda introduced the second-generation Insight in its home nation of Japan in February 2009,
and released it in other markets through 2009 and in the U.S. market in April 2009. At $19,800
as a five-door hatchback it will be the least expensive hybrid available in the U.S. Honda expects
to sell 200,000 of the vehicles each year, with half of those sales in the United States.

Since 2002, Honda has also been selling the Honda Civic Hybrid (2003 model) in the U.S.
market,. It was followed by the Honda Accord Hybrid, offered in model years 2005 through
2007. Sales of the Honda CR-Z began in Japan in February 2010, becoming Honda's third hybrid
electric car in the market.
In an interview in early February 2011, a Honda executive disclosed that Honda produces around
200,000 hybrids a year in Japan.
Hydrogen fuel cell
In Takanezawa, Japan, on 16 June 2008, Honda Motors produced the first assembly-line FCX
Clarity, a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. More efficient than a gas-electric hybrid vehicle, the
FCX Clarity combines hydrogen and oxygen from ordinary air to generate electricity for an
electric motor.
The vehicle itself does not emit any pollutants and its only by products are heat and water. The
FCX Clarity also has an advantage over gas-electric hybrids in that it does not use an internal
combustion engine to propel itself. Like a gas-electric hybrid, it uses a lithium ion battery to
assist the fuel cell during acceleration and capture energy through regenerative braking, thus
improving fuel efficiency. The lack of hydrogen filling stations throughout developed countries
will keep production volumes low. Honda will release the vehicle in groups of 150. California is
the only U.S. market with infrastructure for fueling such a vehicle, though the number of stations
is still limited. Building more stations is expensive, as the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) granted $6.8 million for four H2 fueling stations, costing $1.7 million USD each.

SWOT analysis of Honda
Company Background
Key Facts
Name Honda Motor Company, Ltd.
Founded September 24, 1948
Logo
Industries
served
Automotive, Aviation, Robotics, Finance

Geographic
areas served
Worldwide (more than 100 countries)
Headquarters Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Current CEO Takahiro Hachigo
Revenue JPY ¥14,601.1 billion (2016) 9.6% increase over JPY ¥13,328.1 billion (2015)
Profit JPY ¥406,358 billion (2016) 27.6% increase over JPY ¥561,098 billion (2015)
Employees 208,399 (2016)
Main
Competitors
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Chrysler Group LLC, Daimler AG, Ford Motor
Company, General Motors Company, Nissan Motor Company, Hyundai Motor
Company, Tata Motors, Ltd., Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen AG and
many other automotive companies.
Honda Motor Company (further Honda or Company) is a Japanese motorcycle, automobile,
aircraft and engine manufacture. The Company was founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda, as an
automotive parts manufacturer. Honda later moved to manufacturing motorcycles and has
become the world’s largest motorcycles manufacturer in 1959.[2]

In 1962, Honda started manufacturing automobiles and was the first company to launch a
dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. The Company is now the 8th largest auto manufacturer
in the world.
Over the years, the Company has ventured into many industries and is now manufacturing jets
and robots.
Honda always highlighted that its core business is engines and all the products the company has
ventured in is built around them. Company has been growing significantly over the past few
years, mainly due to its automobile business.
You can find more information about the business in its official website or Wikipedia’s article.
SWOT
Honda SWOT analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
1. Competence in engine manufacturing -
company’s core product
2. Diversified product portfolio
3. Dominance in motorcycle and engine
industries leading to a high brand awareness
4. Strong position in Asia’s motorcycle
markets
1. Dependence on North America to generate
most of the revenue
2. Low investments in research and
development (R&D) leading to innovative
products
Opportunities Threats
1. Increasing government regulations
2. Improving U.S. economy
3. Timing and frequency of new model
releases
4. Low fuel prices are increasing the
demand for pickup trucks and SUVs
1. Increased competition
2. Rising Japanese Yen exchange rates
3. Natural disasters

Strengths
1. Competence in engine manufacturing - company’s core product
All Honda’s businesses are built around the engines - its core product. The company’s first
engines were built for motorcycles and power equipment, but were later produced for cars and
marine vehicles. Honda is the world’s largest engine manufacturer, which produced over 27
million units of engines for automotive, motorcycle, marine, and power equipment products, in
2015.[3]
The company has lots of experience in manufacturing quality and well-performing engines. Its
engines are praised for their durability, easiness to start, quietness, fuel efficiency and reliability.
According to Reliability Index,[4]
Honda’s car engines are some the most reliable in the industry.
Engines are the key to motor products and the company’s competence in manufacturing engines
is a competitive advantage few rivals can match.
2. Diversified product portfolio
Honda operates 4 different divisions:
• Motorcycle business (12.3% revenue)
• Automobile business (72.8% revenue)
• Power product and other business (2.3% revenue)
• Financial Services (12.6% revenue)
Honda offers many products to consumers including engines, cars, motorcycles, jets, robots,
generators, lawnmowers, water pumps, as well as many other power equipment products. While
the cars generate the most revenue for Honda, its overall product portfolio is fairly diversified,
when compared to Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, or Briggs and Stratton (in an engine
industry).
Figure 1. Percentage of Sales Revenue by Business
Source: Honda’s Financial Report[1]
3. Dominance in motorcycle and engine industries leading to a high brand awareness

Honda is a huge company dominating in most of the markets it operates in, including engines
and motorcycles.
The company is the leading manufacturer of small, general purpose engines for commercial,
rental industry, and consumer applications.[5]
Honda is also the leading global manufacturer of
motorcycles having 22.1% of the total market share in the first half of 2016.[1]
Company’s
dominance in both of these markets have increased its brand recognition and reputation.
According to Interbrand[6]
and Forbes,[7]
Honda is the 21st and 23rd most valuable brand in the
world, worth US$22.1 billion and US$25.2 billion, respectively. Brand value is closely related to
brand awareness and its reputation and only few other companies, such as Toyota, BMW and
Mercedes-Benz, can compare with Honda in terms of a brand value.
4. Strong position in Asia’s motorcycle markets
Motorcycle business generates 12.3% of total Honda’s sales and is the third largest revenue
group for the company. The company has sold 17,592 units of motorcycles and all-terrain
vehicles in 2016 alone and captured 22.1% of the world’s motorcycle market in the first half of
2016.
Asia is the main geographic segment for Honda’s motorcycle business, where the company has
sold 15.1 million units or over 88.7% of its total motorcycles, generating ¥1,107.6 billion in
revenue.
Asia-Pacific region, which includes such countries as China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Japan, is the largest motorcycle region in the
world and Honda’s strong position in it is a powerful competitive advantage.
Weaknesses
1. Dependence on North America to generate most of the revenue
Honda depends on North America region, which mainly includes the U.S. and Canada, to
generate 55.6% of the company’s total revenue.
Figure 2. Percentage of Sales Revenue by Region

Source: Honda’s Financial Report[1]
Honda’s reliance on North America grew from 49.3% of the total sales in 2014 to 55.6% of the
total sales in 2016. At the moment, North America is the main driver behind company’s growth
where the motorcycle revenue grew 20% and the automobile revenue grew by 19%. Nonetheless,
the U.S. and Canada are saturated markets and Honda will find it hard to maintain the same level
of growth in these markets.
The company is also becoming more vulnerable to overall negative changes in North America’s
markets.
2. Low investments in research and development (R&D) leading to fewer innovative
products
Honda has spent US$5.4 billion for R&D in 2015. This amounted to 4.5% of the company’s total
revenue.
Figure 3. Comparison of R&D expenditure – Honda and selected major competitors (in US$
billions)
Company 2015 R&D As a % of revenues 2014 R&D As a % of revenues
Honda 5.4 4.5 5 4.5
Toyota 8.4 3.7 7.6 3.5
Volkswagen 14 6.9 14 7.1
General Motors 7.5 4.9 7.4 4.7
Source: The respective companies’ financial reports[1][5][6][7]
Low investments in R&D lead to fewer innovative products and significantly undermine the
company’s abilities to compete in the future. The company should focus its US$5.4 billion R&D
investments to certain areas (like Hyundai does), which would erase company’s low R&D
budget disadvantage and would result in innovative products.
Opportunities
1. Increasing government regulations
Many governments around the world are committed to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions
and are encouraging fuel efficiency initiatives. Such environmental initiatives may increase
production costs for the car manufacturers and these costs will be either passed to price sensitive
consumers or will decrease the company’s profits. Honda may take advantage of this by

introducing more car models running only Hydrogen fuel cells and bypassing all the government
regulations associated with the greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Improving U.S. economy
Signs of an improving economy and rising consumer confidence have been reflected in the
strongest increase in new vehicle sales for more than a decade in the U.S. market. 17.5 million
new units were sold in 2015, a 5.7% increase over 2014. Interest rates in the U.S. have been low
for several years and are forecast to remain that way for the foreseeable future. In such economic
conditions, Honda has an opportunity to capture higher market share and increase sales in the
U.S. automotive market.
3. Timing and frequency of new model releases
The market share of the automotive companies is significantly impacted by the timing and
frequency of new model releases. Historically, new models have tended to have major upgrades
every 4 or 5 years with only minor modifications in between. However, due to the rising
consumer expectations in relation to in-car technology and the competitive nature of the industry,
there is an argument to release upgraded models more frequently. Honda is well-positioned to be
able to do this.
4. Low fuel prices are increasing the demand for pickup trucks and SUVs
Currently, fuel prices are the lowest in a decade. Such situation has encouraged consumers to
buy big fuel-inefficient vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks. Traditionally, Honda’s main
focus was on smaller cars like Honda Civic and sedans such as Honda Accord, but in the current
situation, where fuel prices are low, the company has introduced its next generation pickup truck
Ridgeline and redesigned its CR-V sport utility vehicle to meet the demand for the bigger
vehicles.
The trend of low fuel prices is likely to stay and Honda should introduce more models of pickup
trucks and SUVs to take an advantage of the growing market for these vehicles and to increase
company’s profitability.
Threats
1. Increased competition
Honda is faced with an ever increased competition from the traditional automotive companies,
the new players and saturation of its main markets. In Asia, the company’s key motorcycle
region, markets are nearly saturated. In 2016, Honda’s motorcycle revenue grew by only 5.4% in
Asia, compared to 20.3% growth in North America region. The company faces many new
entrants in India and China, which offer similar quality motorcycles and scooters for lower price
than Honda.

Honda’s automotive business is also experiencing the slowing growth of the automotive markets
and the increased competition from the new Chinese manufacturers. The company’s international
rivals, such as Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai, all have larger budgets
and could use them to aggressively take market share from Honda.
New companies, such as Tesla and even Google, which tries to build self-driving cars are also
threatening the traditional automotive industry. The competition is further fueled by the fact that
the global automotive production capacity far exceeds the demand. In 2015, there was an
estimated global excess production capacity of 31 million units.[11]
2. Rising Japanese Yen exchange rates
More than 88% of Honda’s revenue come from international markets, which means that the
company has to convert foreign currencies to Japanese Yen in order to calculate its revenues and
send the profits back to Japan. Currency rates are volatile and the company’s profits and revenue
highly depend on the fluctuating exchange rates. The company cannot control the currency
exchange rates, therefore it is at risk, if Japanese Yen exchange rates would start to rise. In such
case, the company’s profits would decrease significantly. The company itself identifies this as a
key threat that will negatively affect the company over the next few years.
3. Natural disasters
Honda has manufacturing facilities in Japan, Thailand, China and Indonesia. These countries,
including others, are often subject to natural disasters that disrupt manufacturing processes and
result in lower production volumes and profits.

Objectives of the Study
· To know about the Honda company.
· To know about its Promotional activities.
· Its Market Position.
· Honda’s level of customer satisfaction.
· Its history and the company profile.
· Cost saving initiatives.

Research Methodology
The purpose of methodology is to describe the process involved in research work. This includes
the overall research design, data collection method, the field survey and the analysis of data.
Research is a common parlance refresh to a search for knowledge. One can also define research
as a scientific & systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic.
In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The advance learner’s dictionary of current
English lay down the meaning research as a careful investigation & inquiry specially search for
new facts in any branch knowledge.
Research Design
Research Design is the arrangement for conditioned for data collection & analysis of data in a
manner that aims to combined relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure.
A research design is a master plan or model for the conduct of formal investigation. It is blue
print that is followed in completing study.
The research conducted by me is a descriptive research. This is descriptive in nature because
study is focused on fact investigation in a well structured from and is based on primary data.
Research Plan
Type of study: For completing my study I have gone for sample study because looking at the
size of population & the time limitation it was not convenient for me to cover entire population.
Hence, I have gone for sample study rather than census study.

Sampling Plan
A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to the
technique or the procedure that researcher would adopt in selecting items to be inched in the
sample i.e. the size of sample. Sampling plan is determined before data are collected.
Steps in Sampling:
1. Understanding the Marketing strategies of Honda.
2. Study the company profile & related aspects.
3. To collect the information from self constructed questionnaire.
4. Meeting with different owners of Honda showroom.
5. Obtaining the opinion and suggestions of owners at different levels.
6. Prepare questionnaire on the basis of above information.
7. Gather information from different source like books Internet magazines etc.
8. On the basis of the answers and the information gathered from other sources prepare
the report.
Sampling Frame:
The list of sampling units from which sample is taken is called sampling frame.
Sampling Size:
Total sample size is 50.
Sampling Procedure:
The selection of respondents were accordingly to be in a right place at a right time and so the
sampling were quite easy to measure, evaluate and co-operative. It was a randomly area
sampling method that attempts to obtain the sample of convenient.

CONCLUSION
On an average more than 73% people feel that the prices are affordable whereas 12%
do not agree, 74% believe that attractive discounts are offered whereas 26% are not
satisfied withthe discounts offered. 20% said that the test drives are not offered and
15% said that post sales follow ups are not done regularly whereas 85% said that they
were done regularly but people feel that it is the people’s car as it is satisfactory on all
other parameters: knowledgeable sales persons , employees spent enough time before
and during sales, display of merchandise is attractive, availability of product, variety of
merchandize, vehicle in good condition, prices are affordable, attractive discounts are
offered, décor of the waiting area is pleasing, responds to complaints quickly, service at
TATA Motors service station is excellent, careful with personal information and is value
for money . The overall opinion about TATA Motors is very good. 86% people agreed
that the sales persons are knowledgeable and 14% strongly disagreed that the sales
persons are knowledgeable. 64% people agreed that the sales persons spent enough
time with them before the sales and 36% strongly agreed with this. 62% agreed that
sales persons spent enough time with them during the sales, while 34% strongly agreed
that the sales persons spent enough time with them during sales and only 4% disagreed
60% agreed that the sales persons spent enough time with them after sales, 26%
strongly agreed with this and 14% disagreed that the sales persons spent enough time
with them after sales. 94% agreed that the display of merchandize was attractive and
6% strongly agreed that the display of merchandize was attractive. 91% agreed that the
availability of the product was there, 5% strongly agreed that the availability was there
while only 4% said they disagreed with this.

87% agreed that there was variety/selection of merchandize whereas 7% strongly
agreed that enough variety was there and 6% disagreed with this. 82% agreed that the
vehicle was in good condition when delivered, 16% strongly agreed with this whereas
only 2% disagreed with this. 64% strongly agreed that the prices are affordable, 21%
agreed that the prices are affordable whereas only 15% said that they neither disagreed
nor agreed with this.
55% agreed that the discounts offered are attractive, 34% strongly agreed with this
while 11% disagreed and said that the discounts offered were not attractive. 80%agreed
that the décor of the waiting area was pleasing while 20% strongly agreed that the
décor of the waiting area was pleasing 74% agreed that the test drive was offered to
them, 6% strongly agreed that the test drive was offered while 20% disagreed with this.
59% agreed that the post sales follow ups are done regularly, 26% strongly agreed and
15%disagreed with this. 4% agreed that the response to complaints is quick, 18%
strongly agreed, 12% neither agreed nor disagreed and 6% disagreed with this.
82% said that the service at HONDA service station is excellent, 14% strongly agreed
while only 4% disagreed with this. 85% agreed that yes they were careful with personal
information, strongly agreed with this and 8% neither agreed nor disagreed. 94%
strongly agreed that all the ommitments were fulfilled and 6% agreed with this. 98% said
yes that they are aware about the Insurance Schemes of HONDA while only 2% said
that they were not aware.

SUGGESTION
Honda is committed to further advancing power train technologies in order to offer new products
and technologies that satisfy growing demand from customers around the world for high fuel
efficiency and to achieve more environmentally-friendly mobility that more people can enjoy.
Honda will continue to dedicate company resources to the creation of new technologies. Honda
will also continue making capital investments proactively to strengthen the flexibility and
efficiency of its global production network.
Setting customer satisfaction as our number one priority, Honda strives to provide the joy of
mobility to even more customers through the introduction of new technologies and new products.
n this is achieved, our sales should reach approximately 16 million units for motorcycles,
approximately 4 million units for automobiles, and approximately 6.5 million units for power
products by the end of the 9th
Mid-term. In terms of sales revenue, this will exceed 10 trillion
yen.
Through all of these efforts, Honda’s goal is to be a company that society wants to exist, to
pursue the joy of mobility, and to extend this joy to more customers and to future generations.

BEBLIOGRAPHY
1. dreams.honda.com
2. world.honda.com
3. www.wikipedia.com
4. www.hondacarsindia.com
5. www.scribd.com

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