The American Honda Motor Company, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as AHM) is the North American subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company. It was founded in 1959. The company combines product sales, service and coordinating functions of Honda in North America, and is responsible for distribution, marketing and sales of Honda and Acura brand automobiles, Honda Powersports products (motorcycles, scooters and all-terrain vehicles), Honda Power Equipment products (garden tools and generators), Honda Engines products, Honda Marine engines, and the HondaJet aircraft.
, Honda-brand automobile models include the Accord, Civic, CR-V, HR-V, Odyssey, Passport, Pilot and Ridgeline. Acura-brand models are the Integra, MDX, NSX, RDX, and TLX. Honda claims several firsts for a Japanese car maker in the United States. The company was the first to create a subsidiary to market and sell its vehicles in the country, and the first to manufacture automobiles in North America.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Honda's first overseas subsidiary opened in Los Angeles in 1959 which was unusual for the time, as other foreign auto companies typically relied on independent distributors.
History
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Honda's first overseas subsidiary, opened in Los Angeles on June 11, 1959 with capital investment of $250,000 ($ in dollars ) and three employees. The creation of a subsidiary was unusual for the time, as other foreign auto companies typically relied on independent distributors. The headquarters in 1959 were at 4077 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. The office was moved to the nearby suburb of Gardena at 100 West Alondra in 1963. In 1990, they relocated to 1919 Torrance Boulevard in Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Honda headquarters have of space.
In 1960, the first full year of operations, American Honda sold fewer than 2,000 motorcycles through three product lines: the Dream, Benly and Honda 50 (Super Cub). The following year, Honda established 500 motorcycle dealers and spent $150,000 on advertising in regions where it operated ($ in dollars ). Honda's expansion into new U.S. markets was undertaken one region at a time over a five-year period, starting on the West Coast and moving east, creating new demand for motorcycles.
Sales in the U.S. did not increase notably until 1963, when the company launched its "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" advertising campaign, the first of its scale to position motorcycles to mainstream Americans. By the end of the year, Honda had sold more than 100,000 units in the U.S., more than all other motorcycle manufacturers combined. Expansion at this time led the company to move to a new headquarters facility in Gardena, California, in September 1963, and total unit sales in 1964 represented nearly half of the U.S. motorcycle market.
Honda had an easier time expanding in the U.S. than in Japan, where Honda first began as a motorcycle manufacturer, only later entering the automobile market in competition with other established competitors including Toyota and Nissan. By 1983, Honda had 805 dealerships in the U.S. In the early 1990s, Honda sold two cars in the U.S. for every one car it sold in Japan. In 1990, American Honda took up residence in its current headquarters facility in Torrance, California. Following the death of founder Soichiro Honda in 1991, the company's global operations were re-organized, forming four regional operations including North America.
As of 2018, Honda employed more than 31,000 associates in the U.S. with a payroll of $2.5 billion. Another 159,000 workers are employed at authorized dealerships in the U.S., and tens of thousands more work for the company's 607 U.S. original equipment (OEM) suppliers.
Vehicles
Honda first introduced passenger cars to the North American market in 1970 with sales of the Honda N600 sedan through 32 dealers in the western United States. The first Honda car sold in the United States was sold and retired at the same dealership at Manly Honda, in Santa Rosa, California; however, sales of the vehicle and subsequent model, the Z600 coupe, only reached 20,000 units in 1972. During the 1970s energy crisis, however, lightweight, fuel-efficient cars experienced a surge in demand. The Honda Civic, introduced in 1973, became popular in the United States, leading a significant expansion of Honda into the American market.