Honda: A Lesson in Diversity

By: Jason Petrina



While other automotive manufacturing companies may be concentrating on becoming the largest car company in the world, Honda has earned a reputation in diversity and succeeded admirably well at almost every endeavor the company has put its collective hand toward. Quickly moving toward it’s 70th anniversary, Honda has earned a reputation for quiet quality and reliability and not just in terms of automotives either. The company produces a wide range of products, including electrical generators, water craft, ATVs, lawn and garden equipment and marine engines. Chances are that even if you don’t drive a Honda vehicle, you just might own something with a Honda engine in it. The company produces a whopping 14 million internal combustion engines per year and holds the position of being the largest engine maker in the world. Quite recently, Honda made the move to add diesel engines to its already vast lineup of products.

The company is well known for its VTEC cam engine, a system that allows the engine to have two different cam lobes for different characteristics. Specifically, the lobes can be used for low-end torque and idling as well as high-end power and efficiency.

It’s no wonder that Honda is so adept at diversity. The founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda, actually began his career manufacturing piston rings and even sub-contracted to Toyota at one point. He then quickly began to produce motorcycles and scooters, answering the need for inexpensive transportation in post-war Japan. That decision proved to be a good one, as Honda quickly conquered this corner of the transportation market; leaves the British motorbike producers trailing in the wake. Since the 1970’s, Honda has continued to dominate the market as the largest producer of motorcycles in the world; a title that not even Harley Davidson can claim.

Like many of their other products, Honda also dominates the market in generators. In fact, Honda generators have been one of the most popular in the world for more than 35 years. While there are many attractive features available on Honda generators, some of the most popular include the fact that its possible to obtain 1000 watts of power at less than 30 pounds and the quiet running nature of the generators. Like other Honda products, the line of generators is also well known for reliability and durability. The construction industry tends to rely heavily on Honda generators and they are also immensely popular in national parks, where it is said that some parks only allow Honda brand generators because of their quiet running reputation.

Honda has been producing a wide variety of lawn and garden equipment for a number of years including, snowblowers, lawnmowers, tillers, trimmers and brushcutters. The company’s reputation for producing an efficient, quiet running and reliable engine has made Honda a leader in the outdoor power equipment as well. One of the most popular features of Honda lawn and garden equipment is the fact that all products run on gas alone and do not require any mixing of oil and gas. Honda’s 4-stroke engine technology also means that these gas only products use less fuel than any other conventional products.

People from around the world have also been relying on Honda for their recreational vehicle needs for years including ATVs and personal watercraft vehicles. Honda offers a diverse line of sport and utility all terrain vehicles as well as jet skis. Like all the other Honda products, the company’s dedication to reliability and the production of a world class engine have helped this portion of the Honda family earn a world wide audience.

With Toyota closing in on the coveted number one auto producer in the world slot, it can only remain to be seen whether Honda will ever eclipse their homeland competitor; but when it comes to diversity; Honda continues to bring home the gold time after time.



Jason Petrina is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com