Set out from Japan with 3 philosophies of pleasure, he created a world brand in automobiles: Soichiro Honda

• The first of these pleasures was "production pleasure" for engineers.
• The second pleasure was “sales pleasure” for company employees.
• The third pleasure was the “Pleasure of driving Honda” for customers.

In other words, the company was founded on pleasing everyone, from the producer to the consumer.

The founder of the company, Soichiro Honda, was born on November 17, 1906 in Japan. He was the son of a weaver mother and a bicycle mechanic father. From an early age, Honda grew up helping his father in the workshop. In other words, he grew up in mechanics, oil and tires at a young age.

Honda, whose school life was not very successful, once tried to fix the poor grades on his report card. He even helped his friends in this regard. However, when the technique he applied to correct the notes turned out to be problematic, this small fraud attempt was learned by everyone. Therefore, his father also punished him to stand on one leg. His father, Soichiro Honda, gave this punishment not because of mischief, but because he did not realize the mistake he had made while correcting the grades.

Started working at auto repair shop

After graduating from secondary school in 1922, Honda saw a job advertisement in the newspaper. He applied for this posting that belonged to an auto repair shop in Tokyo. Being the youngest employee in the workshop, Honda had the opportunity to closely monitor the design of the racing cars produced in this workshop. In 1923, in a fire caused by an earthquake, Honda caught the eye of his boss, who prevented the burning of three vehicles in the workshop.

This workshop, called Art Shokai, where Honda works, started to become more and more popular in Tokyo and opened new branches. 21-year-old Soichiro Honda was appointed as the head of one of these branches. Learning from the earthquake in 1923, Honda started to produce spare parts that are resistant to breakage and fire. He replaced wooden rims with metal rims and even patented it. Although the workshop was making very good profits, Soichiro Honda was still investing all his money in product development and the owners of Art Shokai did not support this situation.

Soichiro had almost come to life in the workshop and was working on improving the piston spring. He even invested his wife's jewels in the workshop. Despite all the efforts, Honda could not achieve the desired success, and after a while, he gave himself to training.

“All teachers would be inventors if theory brought creativity.” He started taking lessons at Honda motor and automotive school. In the remaining time, he continued to design racing cars. By inventing his own method of engine cooling, he solved a fundamental problem with racing cars. The engines he produced did not break down in races due to overheating. For this reason, he decided to try the engine he produced by taking an active role in the races.

He participated in rally races in 1936. Honda flew out of the vehicle when the car suddenly stopped at 120 km/h. Honda's arm was broken, his shoulder was dislocated, and his face was badly injured. This is how Honda's racing career, which was hospitalized for 3 months, came to an end. After his recovery, he started his own company. The name of the company was Tokai Seiki. This time, the piston springs he produced were trouble-free and the production gained a good momentum.

During World War II, the company supplied nearly half of Toyota's piston spring needs. It also produced spare parts for aircraft carriers and aircraft. However, in 1945, with the defeat of Japan in World War II and the bombing of Tokai Seiki by US planes, things suddenly changed color. Thinking that the country was in a bad period, Honda did not restore its own factory, which was badly damaged. He sold it to Toyota for 450,000 yen. Staying at home for about a year, Soichiro Honda devoted himself to whiskey production and whiskey drinking during this time.

In 1946, Honda once again established its own business: the Honda Technology Research Institute…

In this process, moped production was emphasized. Honda, which took the equipment of the radio used by the soldiers and placed it on the bike and used fir tree oil as fuel, managed to sell 1500 of these mopeds. By 1947, Honda's own production of the twin piston engine was produced. The company name was changed to Honda Motor Company.

In 1949, the production of the double piston motorcycle called Dream was started. Two years later, 4-piston engines were produced. In 1958, Honda opened to the US market with the motorcycle named Super Cub. Honda was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan at this time. It has already surpassed more than 200 motorcycle companies around the world.

“The Boss Should Surprise His Employees.”

Honda's start to produce motorcycles attracted the attention of foreign companies. One of these companies, which came to Japan to get Honda's distributorship, made a great impact on Honda Soichiro's life: Honda offered his guest a Japanese drink called sake. The guest also fell ill and went to the toilet. Here, the guest who dropped his denture in the toilet, saved his tooth from the hole as a result of long efforts. Calm down after coming out of the toilet, this man signed the negotiated deal with Honda.

The rapidly growing company needed new management approaches. The innovations made under Honda management were revolutionary. The departments are clearly defined. However, the Honda Research Center was autonomous and stood apart from the management pyramid. Design engineers were promoted on the basis of personal achievement, not vacancies. Soichiro, who is against hierarchy within the company, said:

“In general, people work harder and better when they are not under pressure. People are more innovative when they are not under pressure. As Honda, we designed a system to bring out the bright people in the company. So much so that these bright people may even sit on the chair of the presidency in time.”

4 Basic Principles

Meanwhile, Soichiro did not open the company to shareholders. In other words, successful engineers and managers took part in the management of the company, not investors. The principles of the company in the field of management were stated in 1956 under the name of "Company Principle" as follows:

• Creation of new markets
• Participation of all employees in management
• Globalization of production
• Solving all problems in an innovative way

Number 1 in the Motorcycle World

Motorcycles produced by Honda started to attract great attention all over the world. The company reached the capacity to produce 100,000 motorcycles per month in 1961 and 1 million per month in 1968. Around 1985, 60% of the world's motorcycle production was in the hands of Honda.

Honda, which is at the top of the motorcycle field, later decided to produce automobiles. In his biography, Soichiro Honda states that he was fascinated by cars in his childhood and even believes that he will one day produce his own car.

Switched to Automobile Production

Honda, which produced its first car in 1962, did not heed the advice of Japanese authorities not to enter the automotive world. Authorities were saying that the Japanese market was saturated with automobile manufacturers and that a new automobile company would not find a place for itself in the market. By the 1970s, however, it was clear that Soichiro Honda had done the right thing by entering the automobile business.

Until then, there were certain problems with the exhausts of the vehicles, and other automakers could not find a complete solution to this problem. However, Honda has radically solved the exhaust gas problem by producing a catalytic converter. The engines produced by Honda released less harmful gases to the environment. The Honda Civic, introduced in 1975, was the first car to feature this technology. Even today, the Honda Civic remains one of the most trusted vehicles in its class.

Factory Opened in the USA

Ignoring the prejudice that American workers could not assemble high-tech Japanese vehicles, Soichiro Honda set up a factory in the US state of Ohio in the mid-'70s. The Honda Accord broke sales records in the USA in the 80s. Soichiro Honda has a special place as a Japanese entrepreneur who invested for the first time in the American automotive industry because of this car.

At the beginning of the 80s, Honda became the 3rd largest automobile manufacturer in Japan, and the 3rd largest automobile manufacturer in the world at the end of the 80s.

"Mr Storm"

Another characteristic of Soichiro Honda is his ability to take risks. Honda is an idealist enough to risk everything to achieve his goals.

His employees refer to Soichiro Honda as "Mr. Storm". Because Honda, which experiences bursts of emotion from time to time, is feared as much as it is loved by its employees. Honda is known as a driven, humble and benevolent person. He is also a leader who knows how to learn from his mistakes and advises people to learn from their mistakes.

Outlawed by Competitors

As Honda consolidated its position in the market, it was treated as a stepchild, especially in Japan. Because, due to the oil crisis in Japan, producers were in a strategy to increase prices and reduce production costs. But Soichiro Honda was against it. So much so that he reduced prices and doubled its production capacity during this period. As a result, Honda's sales increased 76%, while Nissan and Toyota's sales fell 40%.

Having spent his entire life breaking down classical ideas, Honda has often refused to work with professional advisors. Because he believed that education was also a kind of dogma and hindered innovative thinking. Always acting on his own principles, Soichiro Honda says:

“When I look back, I see that I made a lot of mistakes. But I am also proud of my achievements. Although I made mistakes in succession, I did not repeat the same mistake twice.”

Soichiro Honda worked for the company he founded for 65 years and personally tested every newly produced vehicle. He did not give any special treatment to any of his relatives or friends at the company level.

“No matter how wonderful the founder of the company is, there is no guarantee that this person's son will take over the company. In Honda, kinship, not blood; Leadership is valued.”

In 1973, the company celebrated its 25th anniversary, during which Honda announced its retirement. The new boss of the company became one of the employees.

Although Honda did not sit idle after his retirement. He was elected president of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and president of the Japanese Automotive Federation. He founded a foundation for traffic safety. He also founded the Honda Foundation on the development of environmentally friendly technologies.

This great entrepreneur, who died on August 5, 1991, left behind 470 inventions, 150 patents and honorary doctorate degrees from various universities. The company, which he founded with only 3200 dollars, today has an annual turnover of billions of dollars.