- published: 09 Oct 2011
- views: 54296
Soichiro Honda (本田 宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō?, November 17, 1906 – August 5, 1991) was a Japanese engineer and industrialist, and founder of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..
Honda was born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan on November 17, 1906. He spent his early childhood helping his father, Gihei, a blacksmith, with his bicycle repair business. At the time his mother, Mika, was a weaver. At 15, without any formal education, Honda left home and headed to Tokyo to look for work. He obtained an apprenticeship at a garage in 1922, and after some hesitation over his employment, he stayed for six years, working as a car mechanic before returning home to start his own auto repair business in 1928 at the age of 22.
In 1937 Honda founded Tōkai Seiki to produce piston rings for Toyota. During World War II US B-29 bomber attack destroyed Tōkai Seiki's Yamashita plant in 1944, and the Itawa plant collapsed in the 1945 Mikawa earthquake, and Soichiro Honda sold the salvageable remains the company to Toyota after the war for ¥450,000, and used the proceeds to found the Honda Technical Research Institute in October 1946. In 1948 he started producing complete motorcycles as president of the Honda Motor Company. Honda turned the company into a billion-dollar multinational that produced the best-selling motorcycles in the world. Honda's engineering and marketing skills resulted in Honda motorcycles' outselling Triumph and Harley-Davidson in their respective home markets. In 1959 Honda Motorcycles opened its first dealership in the United States.
Soichiro Honda: A Personal History
Soichiro Honda's Inspirational Story
Soichiro Honda Quotes
Soichiro Honda - Short Film
Ayrton Senna and Soichiro Honda at FIA 1990
Honda the Power of Dreams Failure: The Secret to Success
Freddie Spencer - GP Schwanenstadt, Honda RC 30, Interview
Honda deixa F1 - Adeus de Senna
Honda Live interview with Freddie Spencer at Goodwood
Driving Honda: Inside the World's Most Innovative Car Company | Ebook PDF Free Download
Behind The Doors @ Wired On Honda interview for 302uning.com
Journalist Sharad Borkar's (Soichiro Honda)
Honda fulfils founder's dream and takes to the skies
Goldie1 Soichiro Honda