Honda's First 50 Years in U.S. Shows Triumph of Small

Since its entry into the U.S. market 50 years ago with a few small motorcycles, Honda has grown into the nation’s No. 4 automaker, recently surpassing Chrysler in U.S. sales.

1959 — American Honda Motor Co. is incorporated in Los Angeles as the first overseas subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. The company, which sold only motorcycles at the time, begins signing up U.S. motorcycle dealers. The company sold just over 1,700 units in its first year.

1962 — Honda launches a 12-year ad campaign featuring the tag line “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” to burnish the image of motorcycles in the U.S., which had image problems because of groups like the Hells Angels.

1969 — Honda begins selling its first automobile in the U.S.: the two-door, two-cylinder N600 sedan. The car carries a price tag of $1,275.

1973 — Honda introduces the Civic hatchback at a manufacturer’s price of $2,150. The car hits showrooms on the eve of the energy crisis. Sales of the vehicle increase more than triple between 1973 and 1975.

1976 — Honda introduces the Accord, first as a hatchback then as a four-door sedan. The car is a hit among baby boomers and establishes Honda as a top maker of family sedans.

1979 — In Marysville, Ohio, Honda completes its first U.S. manufacturing plant, building the CR250M Elsinore motorcycle. Other so-called transplant automakers like Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. follow with U.S. plants of their own in later years.

1982 — The Accord becomes the first car to drive off Honda’s assembly line in Marysville. Today, the plant also builds the Acura TL sedan and the RDX crossover.

1986 — With the Legend sedan, Honda launches the Acura brand to compete with established European luxury carmakers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Acura remains an established luxury line, but Toyota’s Lexus brand eventually overtakes it by sales.

1988 — Honda begins exporting the Accord coupe from Marysville to Japan.

1995 — The 1995 Civic becomes the first vehicle to meet California’s new emissions standards.

1997 — Honda begins leasing an electric vehicle, the EV Plus, on a limited basis. But like General Motors Corp.‘s EV1, Honda discontinues the vehicle and releases a hybrid instead.

1998 — Honda opens a new all-terrain-vehicle manufacturing facility in Timmonsville, S.C. Today, the plant also builds personal watercraft.

1999 — The Honda Insight is launched as the first gasoline-electric hybrid in the U.S. However, the vehicle sells poorly and the Toyota Prius, launched two years later, overtakes it as the dominant hybrid in the U.S.

2001 — Honda opens a third auto plant in Lincoln, Ala., to build the Odyssey minivan and V-6 engines.

2003 — Honda begins testing light jets in Greensboro, N.C.

2006 — Honda begins taking orders for its HondaJet but three years later says deliveries would be delayed because recession-hit suppliers cannot meet previous timetables.

2007 — Honda introduces the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell car. It begins leasing the zero-emissions vehicle to a small handful of customers in Southern California a year later.

2009 — Honda relaunches the Insight hybrid with a sticker price less than $20,000, making it the least expensive gas-electric hybrid in the U.S. Takeo Fukui announces he will step down after six years as Honda’s CEO amid a crumbling auto market. Honda’s U.S. sales fall 34 percent in the first five months of the year, compared with the same period a year earlier.

6/10/2009 3:09 PM The Associated Press