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Annual Report 2006

Honda's History

1946 • Soichiro Honda establishes Honda Technical Research Institute
1947 • Honda's first product, the A-type bicycle engine, produced
1948 • Honda Motor Co., Ltd. incorporated (capital: 1 million yen)
1949 • Dream D-type (2-stroke, 98cc), Honda's first motorcycle, produced
1952 • Head office moved to Tokyo
1953 • H-type engine, Honda's first power product, produced
1957 • Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
1958 • Super Cub motorcycle released
1959 • American Honda Motor Co., Inc. established

• Honda racing team participates in the Isle of Man TT Race, taking sixth place in the 125cc class
1960 • Motorcycle production begins at Suzuka Factory

• Honda R&D Co., Ltd. established
1961 • Honda racing team sweeps first 5 places in Isle of Man TT Race (125cc, 250cc)
1962 • American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) issued at market price. Adopts consolidated accounting using U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) standards

• Construction of Suzuka Circuit completed (Mie Prefecture)
1963 • Honda Benelux N.V. (Belgium) begins production of motorcycles

• Honda's first sports car (S500) and light truck (T360) released
1964 • Automobile production begins at Sayama Factory (presently Saitama Factory)

• Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Thailand) established
1965 • Thai Honda Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Bangkok) established

• Honda (U.K.) Limited established in London

• Honda wins its first F1 victory, in Mexico
1966 • S800 sales and export begins
1967 • Automobile production begins at Suzuka Factory

• Motorcycle production begins in Thailand
1968 • Cumulative motorcycle production reaches 10 million units
1969 • Canadian Honda Motor Ltd. established (presently Honda Canada Inc.)

• Automobile and motorcycle production begins in Malaysia

• Cumulative domestic power product production reaches 1 million units
1971 • Honda Motor do Brazil Ltda. established in Sao Paulo (presently Honda South America Ltda.)

• Knockdown motorcycle production begins in Mexico
1972 • Details of CVCC low-emission engine system announced

• CVCC engine, world's first to comply with the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1975, released
1973 • Motorcycle production begins in the Philippines
1974 • Motorcycle production begins in Indonesia
1975 • Automobile production begins in Indonesia
1976 • Kumamoto Factory begins operation

• Motorcycle production begins at Honda Italia Industriale S.p.A.

• Accord introduced

• Civic cumulative production reaches 1 million units
1977 • ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

• Consolidated financial disclosure begins

• Motorcycle production begins at Moto Honda da Amazonia Ltda. in Manaus, Brazil
1979 • Quarterly financial disclosure begins

• Honda of America Mfg., Inc. begins motorcycle production
1981 • Listed on the London Stock Exchange
1982 • Honda of America Mfg., Inc. begins automobile production
1983 • Listed on the Zurich, Geneva and Basel stock exchanges

• Cumulative automobile production reaches 10 million units
1984 • Automobile production begins in Thailand

• Cumulative motorcycle production in Belgium reaches 1 million units
1985 • Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange

• Motorcycle engine production begins in the U.S.

• Motorcycle production begins in India

• Motorcycle engine production begins in Malaysia

• Cumulative power product production reaches 10 million units
1986 • Automobile production begins at Honda Canada Inc.

• Motorcycle production begins in Spain

• Power product production begins in France
1987 • Honda North America, Inc. established

• Cumulative motorcycle production in Brazil reaches 1 million units

• Cumulative motorcycle production reaches 50 million units, a world first

• Cumulative Civic production reaches 5 million units
1988 • Automobile production begins in Mexico

• High-performance VTEC engine announced
1989 • Common stock-to-ADR exchange ratio changed from 10 shares of common stock to 1 ADR, to 2 shares of common stock to 1 ADR.

• Second automobile plant in the U.S. begins production in East Liberty, Ohio

• Honda Motor Europe Ltd. (U.K.) established
1991 • Honda posts its 60th Grand Prix victory in the Brazil GP
1992 • Automobile production in the U.K. begins

• Automobile production begins in the Philippines
1993 • Honda's GX120 power product engines meet California emission regulations, a world first
1994 • Automobile production begins in Pakistan
1995 • Honda introduced first gasoline-powered vehicle to meet ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) standards in California, the U.S.

• Cumulative world production for the Civic reaches 10 million units

• Cumulative automobile production in North America reaches 5 million units

• Cumulative automobile production reaches 30 million units
1996 • Motorcycle production begins in Turkey
1997 • Automobile production begins in Brazil

• Automobile production begins in Turkey

• Motorcycle production begins in Vietnam

• Cumulative motorcycle production reaches 100 million units

• Construction of Twin Ring Motegi completed (Tochigi Prefecture)
1998 • Honda celebrates 50th anniversary

• Automobile production begins in India
1999 • Automobile production begins at Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. in China

• Fuel cell vehicle FCX-V1 and FCX-V2 announced
2000 • Cumulative Accord production in the U.S. reaches 5 million units

• ASIMO humanoid robot announced
2001 • Cumulative automobiles production in North America reaches 10 million, first for the Japanese automobile manufacturers

• Motorcycle production begins at new production company in India

• Minimum investment unit lowered to 100 shares, from 1,000

• Second automobile plant in the U.K. begins operations

• Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, LLC in the U.S. begins operations
2002 • Common stock-to-ADR exchange ratio changed from 2 shares of common stock to 1 ADR, to 1 share of common stock to 2 ADRs

• New automobile plant in Taiwan begins operations

• Honda FCX fuel cell vehicle delivered both in Japan and the U.S.
2003 • Cumulative world production for the Civic reaches 15 million units

• Cumulative automobile production in the U.K. reaches 1 million units

• New automobile plant in Indonesia begins operations

• New automobile plant in Malaysia begins operations

• Honda FC STACK, a next-generation fuel cell stack capable of starting in sub-zero temperatures, announced

• Cumulative motorcycle production in Indonesia reaches 10 million units

• Cumulative automobile production in the U.S. reaches 10 million units
2004 • Cumulative automobile production in Canada reaches 3 million units

• Honda enter cooperative agreement with General Electric to jointly market our independently developed HF118 jet engine

• Cumulative motorcycle production in Thailand reaches 10 million units

• Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. established

• Honda Motor RUS LLC (Russia) established

• Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co. Ltd. in China begins automobile production

• Second line at Alabama plant in the U.S. begins operations
2005 • New power product plant, Kumamoto factory begins operations

• Cumulative motorcycle production reaches 150 million units

• Honda Automobile (China) Co., Ltd. begins automobile exports

• Cumulative motorcycle production in Brazil reaches 8 million units

• Honda to mass produce next-generation thin-film solar cell
2006 • Cumulative worldwide production of the Super Cub series reaches 50 million units

• In China, Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., completes factory expansion, raising annual production capacity to 120,000 units

• Wuyang-Honda Motors (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., begins production at new motorcycle factory

• Cumulative production of power products reaches 70 million units

• Honda Philippines begins mass production at new motorcycle plant

• Honda establishes subsidiary in Ukraine

• Implementation of two-for-one stock split for common shares

• Common stock-to-ADR exchange ratio changed from 0.5 share of common stock to one ADR, to one share of common stock to one ADR


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