Header Image of Motorcycles

Honda Motorcycles

Honda is the World’s Largest Motorcycle Manufacturer, In addition to being one of the largest auto manufacturers in the US, Honda is also the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers. Honda’s humble beginnings were in motorcycle manufacturing and has never been abandoned as one of the company’s focuses. Just like its automobiles, Honda motorcycles are wildly popular throughout the world — especially in the Asian and European markets. One of the best-selling motorcycles of all time is the Honda Super Cub, a reliable and iconic motorcycle that is still in production today. The value, reliability and enjoyable ride is all part of the formula that made Honda motorcycles some of the best in the world.

Honda’s motorcycles are so reliable that police departments throughout the United States purchase the Goldwing in fleets for their motorcycle patrol divisions. While America was initially a notoriously anti-motorcycle market, Honda’s “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” advertising campaign, coupled with unwavering reliability helped to shift the attitude toward motorcycles. If you’re in the market for a motorcycle, you won’t want to overlook all of the incredible options Honda has to offer.

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 three million motorcycles annually. By 2006, this figure had been reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic competitors. In 2017, India became the largest motorcycle market for Honda. In India, Honda is leading in the scooters segment, with 59% market share.

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.

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, 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 scope.

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 US market was to compete in large motorcycles, around 300 cc. Honda's motorcycles in this class suffered performance and reliability problems when ridden the relatively long distances of the US highways. 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 they fell back on selling the Super Cub instead.

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 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.

Early Motorcycle Models

1986 Honda CBR250

Current Motorcycle Models

2019 Honda CBR1000 Fireblade