Soichiro Hondaa Japanese engineer and businessman born on November 17, 1906 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, could have surrendered when they told him “no”. But his aspirations were stronger than obstacles, and dreaming led him to become the founder of Honda Motors, one of the most prominent multinationals in the automotive sector and motorcycles.
Since childhood, Honda showed a deep interest in motorcycles, influenced by his father, owner of a bicycle repair workshop. At age 15, he moved to Tokyo to work in Hart Shakai, where he acquired experience in automotive engineering. However, his true passion took him back to Hamamatsu, where he founded a piston factory that initially failed.
After this setback, Honda did not discourage and continued his formal education as he reopened his little factory. In 1937, he founded Tokai Seiki to make piston rings for Toyota, a company that prospered until World War II devastated its facilities in 1944 and 1945. Although Toyota rejected his work, Honda did not give up and continued advancing.
After the war, Honda established the Honda Institute for Technical Research. In association with Takeo Fujisawa, he founded Honda Motor Company in 1948 with the initial objective of manufacturing motorcycles. Although the first attempts failed, Honda persevered and managed to develop a lighter and more efficient engine, which marked the beginning of the company’s success.
The first Honda motorcycle, type A, was launched in 1949, followed by type D in 1949, which would become the base of the successful Dream series. The company quickly won international recognition and opened its first store in America in 1959. Honda’s reputation grew even more when its motorcycles began to dominate international competitions.
In the 60s, Honda diversified its operations towards the automotive industry and achieved a significant milestone by winning a formula 1 race with a vehicle manufactured by themselves in 1965. During the 1973 oil crisis, Honda responded by launching the Civic, a compact and efficient car that strengthened its position in the global market.
Sichiro Honda was president of Honda until his retirement in 1973, after which he remained active as director and then as a supreme advisor. He was internationally recognized for his contributions to personal transport and received numerous honors, including the Soichiro Honda de la Asme Medal and the inclusion in the Hall of Fame of the automotive industry near Detroit in 1989.
Throughout his life, Honda combined exceptional engineering skills with a visionary approach in the global market. Its legacy continues with Honda Motors as a leading sustainable mobility company, working towards the zero broadcasting objective through hybrid technologies and other innovations.
Soichiro Honda died on August 5, 1991, and left a legacy in the automotive industry for being an example of perseverance and business vision for future generations.
10 phrases from Sichiro Honda
- True happiness lies in completing a job using your own intelligence and skills.
- There are qualities that lead to success: courage, perseverance, the ability to dream and insist.
- Believe deeply in something allows each individual to find an immense interior force and overcome their own weaknesses.
- When you fail, you also learn how not to fail.
- When I take a balance of life, I realize how important personal contact is, how much it is better than the invention of machines, because people allow us to expand our vision of things and open ourselves to thousands of experiences that we could not otherwise understand.
- I do not regret the thousands of times that I returned home empty -handed, having lost all my ammunition and bait. When the days get so gloomy, then you know that you will soon find the treasure …
- Success can only be achieved through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success represents only 1% of your work, which is 99% called failure. Many people dream of success. For me, it can only be achieved by repeated failure and introspection.
- I would prefer to die rather than imitate other people … that’s why we had to work so hard! Because we don’t imitate.
- My greatest emotion is when I plan something and fail. So my mind is filled with ideas about how I can improve it.
- Success is 99% failure.
