2010 Honda Ridgeline Rtl on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda builds 300-millionth motorcycle, it's a Gold Wing

Honda has been selling motorcycles in Japan since 1949. And it's been selling bikes to US customers since John Travolta had a paper route. Combine all those years, huge markets and great products, and apparently the number you come up with is 300,000,000. Wowza. Starting with the iconic 98-cc Dream Type-D you see above, Honda announced that it has built its 300-millionth motorcycle this month. The company currently sells all manner of powersports goodness, of course – ATVs, side-by-sides and two-wheelers – at 32 facilities in 22 countries. Honda motorcycles took our country by storm in the 1960s, taking the title as the best-selling bike brand in the world during that decade, largely on the back of the Honda 50 or "Super Cub" bike. Honda's success in the '60s also helped to justify the establishment its first manufacturing footprint in North America, in Marysville, OH in 1979. The company mentions, in the press release you'll find below, that lucky number 300 million was a Gold Wing produced at the Kumamoto factory in Japan. We're celebrating that tidbit with a heaping helping of historic Gold Wing photography, in the gallery of Honda bikes, above. Honda Marks Unprecedented Milestone: Global Production of 300 Million Motorcycles Nov 24, 2014 - TORRANCE, Calif. Achieving a milestone more than 65 years in the making, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced production of its 300-millionth motorcycle. The milestone bike is a Honda Gold Wing produced at the company's Kumamoto Factory in Japan. Honda will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic Gold Wing in 2015. Honda began mass production of motorcycles in Japan in 1949 when it built the Honda 98cc Dream Type-D. Today, Honda produces motorcycles, ATV's and side-by-sides at 32 plants in 22 countries, including two plants in North America. "This incredible milestone is the result of the millions of customers who have placed their trust in Honda and we would like to thank all of our customers, associates, dealers and community partners in North America for helping make it possible," said Bob Gurga, Vice President and Manager of Motorcycle Division for American Honda. "Now, we are focused on the future and the ways that we can harness the challenging spirit of Honda associates to create new joy for Honda customers." In 1958, Honda introduced the Honda 50, known globally as the Super Cub, which would go on to revolutionize the industry. This iconic bike paved the way for Honda's expansion into the U.S.

Honda invests $25m on hot-weather testing facility in Mojave

Situated in the Mojave Desert near Cantil, CA, the Honda Proving Center of California is a 4,255-acre facility incorporating a 7.5-mile high-speed oval and a 4.5-mile road course. The location also has a series of off-road routes for testing trucks, dirt bikes, and the like. It first opened in 1990 but ceased functioning twenty years later, after which we saw it listed for sale online. Honda evidently had a change of heart, and is now setting about refurbishing the facility and putting it back into active duty. Backed by an investment of $25 million, the warm-weather proving ground is set to reopen next April. Exact details of the renovation plan have not been announced, but the existing features are set to be refurbished and some new ones added to the site. Honda currently undertakes most of its vehicle testing in America at the Transportation Research Center located near its plants in East Liberty and Marysville, OH. It also operates to major proving grounds back home in Japan in Takasu and Tochigi, and a dedicated motorcycle R&D center with its own test track in Asaka. It also owns the Motegi complex, complete with road course and oval speedway, near its main facility in Tochigi. Related Video: Honda to Enhance California Proving Center in 2016 $25 million investment will renovate the warm weather testing facility Dec 8, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif. Driven by the expanding responsibility for developing new automotive and power sports products in America and the related need for performance testing, Honda will invest $25 million to renovate the Honda Proving Center of California (HPCC) in the Mojave Desert near Cantil, California. The proving center, which was in operation from 1990 through 2010, is scheduled to reopen in April 2016. The 4,255-acre warm weather testing facility features a 7.5-mile high speed oval track and a 4.5-mile winding road course that will be completely refurbished. The renovations also will include the addition of some new vehicle test road enhancements to the property. "As we continue to accelerate our growth in the U.S. market with a competitive line up of cars and trucks designed and developed in the U.S., we are reinvesting in HPCC to create a world-class test facility," said John Mendel, executive vice president of the Automobile Division of American Honda Motor, Co., Inc.

Who can really claim first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle delivery in US?

Last month, Hyundai said that the initial deliveries of the Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles in California meant that, "For the first time, retail consumers can now put a mass-produced, federally-certified hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in their driveways." But try telling that to Jon Spallino. In 2005, Honda leased a hydrogen fuel cell FCX, a small hatchback, to the Spallino family (as far as we know, he parked it in his driveway). The company did the same thing again in 2008 with the FCX Clarity, a sleek new design based on the FCX Concept, and others signed for the H2 ride as well, including celebrities. No matter how you slice it, Honda has been in the fuel cell delivery market for almost a decade now. Just look at this. Or this. Or this. Oh, and other automakers (General Motors in Project Driveway in 2006 and Mercdes-Benz with the F-Cell in 2010, for example) have delivered fuel cell vehicles in the US as part of short-term test programs. But let's get back to Hyundai's claim. There's little question that the first delivery of a "fuel cell vehicle for the US market" has already taken place (and they were federally certified, too), which means that the debate revolves around the definition of mass-produced and whether "mass production" is about a number or about the process? Let's investigate below. First, lets review Honda's bona fides. We can start with the official version of Honda's fuel cell history, which is missing the pertinent detail that Honda build the Clarity on a dedicated assembly line and established a small network of three dealerships to lease the FCX Clarity in 2008. All of the FCX Clarity vehicles in customer hands in the US were leased through these dealerships. Sure, Honda started with hand-built stacks in its hydrogen vehicles, but went to automated control of some parts and components with series production. "It is good to see others doing today what we've been doing since 2008" – Steve Ellis, Honda Or, as Honda's Steve Elllis put it to AutoblogGreen regarding Hyundai's fuel cell deliveries: "This was exactly as prescribed by the creation of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. It's the very essence of 'co-op-itition.' We at Honda, as do many others, continue to push forward on many technologies, both the battery and the fuel cell. And society is the beneficiary." Then he added, "It is good to see others doing today what we've been doing since 2008." Now, how does Hyundai compare?