Diversification: From Land to Water and Beyond
Honda is not just a company that makes cars and motorcycles but focuses on providing all round mobility solutions. Being a great visionary, Soichiro Honda decided to get into outboard motors in the early 1960s. In 1964, the company launched its first outboard motor, the GB30, which was one of the first four-stroke marine motors of the time. Honda believed, “Watercraft should not pollute the waters they ply.” This thinking led to the development of the GB30, which became quite popular at the time. This outboard motor kept the company inspired and Honda have kept making great marine products ever since. Their latest outboard motor, the BF250, is the most powerful in the line-up with a 3,583-cc, 60° V6 that produces 250 PS. Honda also have smaller BF series outboard motors to power everything from a small boat to a highperformance speed boat.
After outboard motors, Honda Power wanted to further expand their line-up and make some headway into the consumer market. A perfect thing for the time was a portable generator. Japanese people now had the spending power and they wanted gadgets that made life easier for them even when they were out on a picnic. For this to be possible, Honda decided to put their efforts into producing portable generators.
In 1965, Honda finally launched the E300, a 300-Watt output portable generator that was quiet, easy to operate, and compact. It was the beginning of yet another venture that continues to date.
Apart from these, Honda also ventured into the production of lawn mowers, pumps, snow blowers, tillers, and trimmers. This company is now called Honda Power Equipment.
Honda also made headway in terms of robotics in 1980s. The company wanted to create a humanoid robot that could walk like human beings. Initially, several examples were created, though much of the work was under constant development. After almost 20 years, Honda created the amazing humanoid: the ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility). A revolution in the world of robotics, this new robot was able to interact with humans like no other machine could. It was designed to recognise movement, gestures, sights, sounds, and its environment to come up with the appropriate gestures and interactions.