You Aren't Going to Like This...

Our President, Mr. Ito, recently took questions from Honda employees about plans for future products. (I have attached excerpts from that discussion below.)

There is good insight into Honda's thought-process and future direction in his comments. For those of you expecting a non-hybrid, non-electric, fire-breathing V10 or V8 in the upcoming sports car, you will not see much support for that direction in Ito's comments. Looks like we are headed for a very green (and hybrid?) vehicle. Take a look.....




FEB. 15 - President Ito takes questions from young Honda associates about future products including plans for an all-new sports car.


Q: Including electric vehicles, what is our plan for developing environmental technologies going forward?

A: After I became president, I went to the Motorcycle R&D Center (HGA) and got upset. I told them that the motor-assisted bicycle you were doing a while ago is the Cub motorcycle you should be putting out now! Don't say that they might end up being expensive--you can't do anything if you think that. It's a violation of the company principle! You need to make this product quick!

Q: A violation of the company principle?

A: Yes. The fact that we were late with this is a mistake that I personally regret to that degree. So we are tightening the bolts on our whole hybrid and EV development process. Right now, electric automobiles are not as convenient as regular gasoline engine cars. But, even though they aren't suddenly going to sell in big numbers everywhere, our customers still have high hopes for the potential of electric automobiles.

As for electric motorcycles, the drawbacks are much fewer, and, even as we speak, there are tens of millions of electric bikes zipping around on the roads of China. In this area, I regret that Honda has been too inward-looking in its approach and slow to respond to some significant changes in society. So we are accelerating this whole process right now.


Q: What is the order of priority in creating "good products"?

A: A "good product" comes down to what brings joy to customers and what inspires them to buy. That's all there is to it. If something is new and original in the world, if it stimulates people's wants and needs and if it makes people think, "I really wanted this!" then they are going to buy it. What makes for a good product is relative and depends on the person.

Q: So there is no order of priority?

A: If the customer really wants something, then he or she won't take too many points off the total score if everything is not perfect. An extreme example is the CVCC engine. We put out a low-emissions engine that all of our competitors said was impossible to build. A lot of people said, "That's amazing!" and praised how advanced it was. In terms of performance, however, I don't believe at all that it was perfect. But the fact that it was so environmentally responsible and advanced made a very strong impression, causing people to think more highly of Honda, expect more from Honda and have more trust in Honda.

Q: What is the future of Honda sports cars?

A: When my team made the body of the NSX all aluminum, we were told to pay back that extra cost [laughs]! Sports cars are something that Honda absolutely has to do. Sports cars, after all, can be people's dream cars, and they offer hints as to how best to design our other cars.

But I want to develop sports cars that symbolize the future. I have no intention of developing sports cars that imitate the classics. Twenty-some years ago, the CR-X ushered in the era of the lightweight sports car, and the culmination of that era was the NSX. Creating sports cars like these that symbolize their era is a Honda tradition. So, as for future powertrains, we've got to consider hybrid and fuel cell electric options. If we were to make a lightweight fuel cell electric sports car, that would be an amazing vehicle. That's the level we should be aiming for.