Soichiro Honda began making cars with the T360 mini truck in 1963 in Japan. A little over five decades later, a total of 100 million Hondas have been made in all their production plants combined. Suffice to say, Soichiro Honda would be proud of that amazing feat.
In the same year the T360 first rolled out of the factory, Honda also produced the S500 small sports car. Four years later, Honda began production of the N360, its first mini-vehicle model. According to Honda, the NS360 that surfaced in 1969 was actually produced in Malaysia! However, the honour of foreign production goes to Taiwan, when a company first started producing parts for the Japanese carmaker.
Subsequently, with the success of the Civic and Accord models (particularly in the west), production rates have shot through the roof over the years. Remember, Honda achieved the 50 millionth mark back in 2003 and took just 13 incredibly short years to double that!
The Honda plant in Alor Gajah, Melaka, has also contributed to the numbers. The plant, which opened its doors in 2003, is responsible for the local assembly of the City, Jazz, Civic, Accord, CR-V, and the HR-V models to the Malaysian market. As for now, Honda is currently the country’s top selling non-national brand.
Honda Motor Co. milestones
- 1948 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. established
- 1963 Production of the T360 mini-truck started at Saitama Factory
- 1969 Production of N600 and TN360 by component parts sets started in Taiwan/production of N360 started in Malaysia
- 1975 Production of Civic and other models started in Indonesia
- 1978 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 5 million units
- 1982 Production of Accord started in the US
- 1983 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 10 million units
- 1984 Production of Accord started in Thailand
- 1986 Production of Accord started in Canada
- 1990 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 20 million units
- 1992 Production of Accord started in the UK
- 1994 Production of Civic started in Pakistan
- 1995 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 30 million units/production of Accord started in Mexico
- 1997 Production of Civic started in Brazil and Turkey/production of City started in India
- 1999 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 40 million units/production of Accord started in China
- 2003 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 50 million units
- 2015 Production of Accord started in Nigeria
- 2016 Cumulative worldwide production of automobiles reached 100 million units
Congratulations, Honda. You’ve come a long way.
