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| HAM’s first Accord left the production line on November 1, 1980 . On the right is Kiyoshi Kawashima, proclaiming that the Japanese car-production facility built on American soil had rolled out its first vehicle. The car is now exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, Michigan. |
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A drastic increase in the standard price of crude oil was set at the OPEC meeting in June 1979, triggering a second oil crisis. This in turn hastened the world’s attention toward energy conservation, nowhere more so than in the United States, where the car market had for years been dominated by large cars. The U.S. had suddenly found that fuel-efficient cars could be attractive, practical, and fun. It was an enticing new concept.
January 1980 found Honda announcing its plan to build an auto production facility on a lot next to the motorcycle plant at HAM, thus becoming the first Japanese auto manufacturer to produce cars in the U.S. That plan involved the investment of an additional $250 million to build a plant with a production capacity of nearly 150,000 cars. Two thousand new employees were to be hired, and manufacturing was slated to begin two years down the road.
Honda’s announcement was a breath of fresh air amid the growing trade friction between Japan and America, in which the exportation of Japanese cars to the U.S. was the greatest factor. The move was welcomed by both governments. Moreover, the media praised the fact that the company had voluntarily worked out a plan to manufacture cars in the States before the issue of trade friction had become public knowledge.
The engineering staff at EG, working with the assumption that auto production at HAM would yield 600 cars a day, developed a welding machine that integrated several processes. Steel sheets were shipped from the U.S. in order that the new machine could be validated using the proper type of material.
Auto production in the United States was taking shape when, in December 1979, Honda signed a licensing agreement with British Leyland Ltd. (BL), the respected British auto manufacturer. This was to be Honda’s first step toward European car production. Thus, Honda could apply its experience with BL to the strategies for auto production at HAM, especially with regard to production facilities and overseas engine/transmission shipments. This, together with the expertise obtained through motorcycle manufacturing at HAM, would give Honda an excellent start in automobile production in America.
It was increasingly seen as a real possibility that Honda would make it in America. The actual production of the company’s first U.S.- produced car was close at hand. |
