Report on Honda's Strategy and Innovation in the Motorcycle Industry

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Honda's strategic and innovative initiatives, particularly within the motorcycle industry. It begins by examining Honda's early actions, such as the introduction of lightweight 50cc two-wheelers and the development of superior 3 hp engines, highlighting their product differentiation strategy and market research. The report further explores Honda's competitive advantages, including the adoption of 4-stroke engines and the introduction of automatic transmission systems, along with their region-by-region market strategy in the West Coast and eastward expansion. It also covers the company's advertising strategies, sales tactics, and dealer support systems. The report references key aspects of Honda's success, such as their appeal to middle-class consumers, marketing strategies, and price point competition to gain market share. The analysis includes references to the company's ability to maintain technological expertise and adapt to market changes while considering short-term losses for long-term market share growth.

Running head: STRATEGY & INNOVATION
Strategy & Innovation
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Table of Contents
Answer to Question 1......................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question 2......................................................................................................................2
References........................................................................................................................................4

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Answer to Question 1
Some of the early initiatives taken by Honda in the early days have been seen with its
actions taken in 1949. This has been seen with the introduction of lightweight 50cc, stroke, D-
type two wheelers. It has been further discerned that the various type of the other initiatives
taken by Honda has been directly related to the various types the initiatives has been seen to be
based on the relying on 3 hp engine, which is superior than the contemporaries engines during
that era. The product differentiation strategy was further seen to be adopted by Honda in the year
1950s, which had been evident with offering multiproduct line and taking leadership initiatives,
along with the exploiting of the various types of the other factors which has been related to
creating of the opportunities for mass production. The most notable evidence of this was seen to
be evident with the Honda’s market research in 1958 for the untapped market based on small and
unintimidating motorcycle which can be used by the small motorcycle business for the various
types of the local deliveries. The company was further seen to design speciality products with
automatic transmission and one hand control feature. It has been observed that during this
period 1950s the various types of the rivals in the car manufacturing industries have been
adopting technology obsolescent strategy (Guerzhoy 2013). Most notably it has been further seen
that initiative such as the development of automatic transmission system and the one hand
control enabled driver had been huge success. The main aspect of Honda has been further seen to
be based on the various types to the idea which has been associated to the success of the 50cc
engines, was evident with a total sale of 3000 per month and stayed the same way for six months.
The future of the products has discerned in form of introducing various types of the other
technologies while entering into the American Market in 195l (Yanthi and Jatra 2015). It has
been also discerned that in 1959, the sales of the company was highest with $ 55. In 1951, the
company has been recognised to consider introducing superior 4 stroke design, which doubled
the total amount of horse power and it did not including any additional weight. It has been
discerned that in general the introduction of 3 hp engine has been seen to been more reliable in
nature along with the superior stamped metal. A similar coincidence has been seen with the
introduction of 4 stroke engine among the several types of the competitors. With the introduction
of the 4 stroke engine the Japanese motorcycle maker was seen to be more competitive. The
main trend of the consumers was seen in terms of higher preference for 4 stroke engine rather

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that the 2 stroke ones. The four 4 stroke engines were further seen to be fitted with side valves
for specific economic resources of manufacturing. It has been further discerned that both 2 stroke
and 4 stroke motorcycles manufactured by Honda were identified to be more powerful even than
the motorcycle with higher power in terms of cc. This has been seen to be evident with the fact
that the company to become fully integrated producer of components and parts crucial to
motorcycle performance. This is further seen with technological expertise (Srivastava 2015).
The introduction of internal combustion engines in 1946 was measured in terms of the
volumes producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines every year. It has been
further discerned that the Japanese competition consisted of loosely defines motorcycle industry
with ill equipped job shops and adapting to the clip on engines for the bicycles. Henceforth, high
power to weight ratio has been conducive in providing competitive edge as compared to the
inferior and unreliable European motorcycles. It can be further seen that the introduction of the
50 cc range could be equated to iphone by the creation of mass demand.
In 1950 initiatives taken by the company has been observed to be most prominent in
nature, which has been identified with organisational features that were "imprinted" in Honda in
the early days.
Answer to Question 2
Honda was seen to be following a region by region strategy in the West Coast and further
moving towards eastward over a period of five years. In 1961, the company took an augmented
focus in the advertising sector. In addition to this it has been further discerned that the sales in
the U.S. has been further increased. This has been mainly seen to be benefitted with the trading
strategy of the company between British and American producers. Some of the main form of the
policies followed by the company has been further seen to be based on the strategies such as
updating the product and redesigning of the general philosophy and maintain an effective policy
for the competitors (Chappell 2016). The main form of the initiatives taken by the company has
been seen to be based on the various factors such as ensuring that the products are updated and
redesigned in case of any form of threat or opportunity. It needs to be further ensured that the
various price levels are designed to achieve the specific market threat and marker share target
when necessary. The application of the effective market system has been further able to discern

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the serious competition which is intended to be short in nature. The various types of the other
plans and the objectives are seen to be based on the plans and the objectives based on long term
payoff strategy (Johnson et al. 2014).
The various types of the other initiatives taken in form of the selling and distribution
strategy have been further discerned in form of maintaining sales representative at the dealer
level. The physical distribution of the machine and the parts has been further seen to be regarded
as the market strategy of the company. The dealer support has been further seen to be associated
to the various types of the consideration for effective distribution of the parts in distant regions.
Some of the other strategically initiatives taken by the company has been based on maintaining a
devoted floor space for the manufactured products. The competitive strategy initiate has been
further based on maintaining relative slopes to lower level to bring the cost down (Kusuda 2013).
The various types of the strategy that has allowed Honda to be so successful in the motorcycle
industry has been seen with the primary appeal to the middle class consumers and following of a
marketing strategy supported with heavy advertising.
Despite of the competition from the manufacturers of bigger bikes, the lightweight
motorcycles were seen to be easier to handle. However, the Honda machines were sold for $ 250
retail, in compare to $ 1000-$ 1500 for the bigger British machines. It was further seen that by
1960 the various manufacturers of the lightweight motorcycles were able to dominate the market.
The main form of the success of the various types of the motorcycle companies such a
Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki price point competition. The main competition has been further
discerned with doubling of the exports between 1960 and 1966; whereas the Harley Davidson
sales was seen to go up by 16.6 million in 1959 to $ 29.6 in 1965. The main form of the
consideration of taking short term losses in order to build up sales & Distribution channels to
acquire market share has been considered with the growth of sales volumes.
The various types of the consideration for the reduction on the price has been seen to be
conducive for securing circa 20% higher price in US v Japan allowing for shipping duty. Based
on the price experience curves, it has been discerned that the process of other Japanese
manufacturers has been comparable to equivalent size range by Honda. The price performance
for the larger bikes has been further seen to be higher.

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References
Chappell, L. (2016) ‘Honda says it won’t abandon Calif. HQ.’, Automotive News, 90(6709), p. 4.
Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=buh&AN=112578068&site=eds-live.
Guerzhoy, P. (2013) ‘On the Honda - Kaneko congruences’, Developments in Mathematics, 28,
pp. 293–302. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-4075-8_12.
Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R., Angwin, D. and Regner, P. (2014) Exploring Strategy,
Pearson Education Limited. doi: 10.1007/s13398-014-0173-7.2.
Kusuda, Y. (2013) ‘Honda develops robotized FSW technology to weld steel and aluminum and
applied it to a mass‐production vehicle’, Industrial Robot: An International Journal, 40(3), pp.
208–212. doi: 10.1108/01439911311309889.
Srivastava, M. K. (2015) ‘A Study of Behaviour of Maruti SX4 and Honda City Customers in
Jaipur’, Pacific Business Review, (June), pp. 1–10.
Yanthi, K. P. and Jatra, I. M. (2015) ‘Pengaruh Country Of Origin, Brand Image, Dan Perceived
Quality Terhadap Minat Beli Sepeda Motor Honda Beat Di Kota Denpasar’, E-Jurnal
Manajemen Unud, 4(11), pp. 3852–3881.