Saturday, January 6, 2007

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (本田技研工業株式会社 Honda Giken Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha?, Honda Technology Research Institute, Co., Ltd.) (TYO: 7267 , NYSE: HMC), or simply called Honda, is a Japanese engine manufacturer and engineering corporation. The company is perhaps most notable for its automobiles and motorcycles, but it also produces a long list of other products: trucks, scooters, robots, jets and jet engines, ATVs, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies. Honda's high-end line of cars are branded Acura in North America. More recently they have ventured into the world of Mountain Bikes, producing the very first Bike to use an internal gear changing system in the Honda RN-01 G-cross.With more than 14 million internal combustion engines built each year, Honda is the largest engine-maker in the world. In 2004, the company began to produce diesel motors, which were both very quiet whilst not requiring particulate filters to pass pollution standards. It is arguable, however, that the foundation of Honda's success is the motorcycle division.Honda is headquartered in Tokyo. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. American Honda Motor Co., is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough area of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Richmond Hill, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008. Honda of Canada Manufacturing is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created many joint ventures around the world, such as Dongfeng Honda Automobile Company in China and Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan.