Honda

The Honda Motor Co. Ltdis headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company. was incorporated in 1949 out of the proceeds of sale of the Honda Technical Research Institute which had been founded by Soichiro Honda in 1946.

The first production automobile from Honda was the 1963 T360 mini pick-up truck, closely followed by the first production car the S500 sports car.

The Honda Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda’s vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded.

The Honda Civic GX (1998) was the first purpose-built natural gas vehicle (NGV) commercially available in the US. It was a factory-modified Civic LX that had been designed to run exclusively on compressed natural gas instead of gasoline. The GX was sold mainly to taxi and commercial fleets

In late 1999, Honda launched the first commercial hybrid electric car sold in the U.S. market, the Honda Insight, just one month before the introduction of the Toyota Prius. The Honda Insight was manufactured in three generations, the 2-door / 2-passenger liftback (1999 -2006), 4-door / 5-passenger liftback (2009 -2014) and 4-door sedan (2019 – ). Other hybrids were the Honda Accord (2003 – 2007) 4-door sedan / 2-door coupe, Honda CR-Z (2010 – 2016) 2-door compact sports coupe and Honda Civic Hybrid (2001 -2015) 4-door sedan. 

The Honda Clarity is a nameplate used on alternative fuel vehicles such as the Honda FCX Clarity (2008-2014) hybrid hydrogen fuel cell. Current Clarity models introduced in 2016 are the Clarity FCV hydrogen fuel cell, Clarity EV (2017 – ) all-electric vehicle and Honda Clarity PHEV plug-in hybrid electric.

Other models in Honda’s US lineup consists of the Fit, Civic, Civic Si and Accord (cars), Passport and Pilot (SUVs), CR-V and CR-V (crossovers SUVs) and Odyssey (minivan).

Acura is the luxury vehicle marque of Honda, launched in North America in 1986, marketing luxury, and high-performance vehicles. Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand.

Acura’s first models were the luxury executive class Legend (available as a full-size sedan and a mid-size coupe), and the compact class Integra (available as a 5-door and 3-door hatchback). The Acura Legend (1985-1995) was the first flagship sedan sold under the Acura nameplate, until being renamed in 1996 as the Acura 3.5RL. 

1991 saw the introduction of the Honda NSX a rear-wheel-drive supercar, the first all-aluminum monocoque vehicle that incorporated a mid-engine V6 with variable-valve timing (VTEC). The NSX, an acronym for “New Sports eXperimental”, was billed as the first Japanese car capable of competing with Ferrari and Porsche.

Also introduced in 1991 was the mid-size, 4-door, 2,5 L engined Acura Vigor, which came in two trim packages; the LS and the higher content GS.

Acura suffered from the decline of the Japanese economy due to the “Japanese asset price bubble” that took place during the 1990s and into the 2000s. This period is known in Japan as “The Lost Decade”.

 Other discontinued models were the CSX, TSX, EL, TL and RL (sedans), the ZDX and SLX (SUV’s) and the RSX and CL (sports and luxury coupes).

Acura’s current lineup consists of the ILX, TLX, RLX (sedans), the RDX and MDX (crossover SUV’s) and the NSX supercar.

Soon to come is the Acura TX PMC Edition supercar.

In 2010, Acura began an association with Marvel Entertainment and in 2011 Acura became the official brand of Marvel’s fictional S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. Several Acura models – such as the ZDX, MDX, ZDX, RL – have appeared in the films, such as :“Iron Man 2”, “Thor “, “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “The Avengers, Iron Man”.