How The Civic And Great Timing Helped Honda Attain International Success

Honda achieved international success in the automotive industry mostly because of the timely introduction of its exceptionally popular model, the Civic and its viewpoint towards conservation of resources. Prior to 1973, Honda was primarily known as one of the largest manufacturers of inexpensive and straightforward motorcycles. It had previously introduced automobiles in the local Japanese car market but the cars were too small for the American Markets tastes.

Middle income households were forced to rethink their spending habits and expenditures due to the prevalent energy crisis in the seventies. Cars in the States had previously been large and heavy bodied vehicles with high fuel consumption and had been anything but cost-effective. The Civic appeared to be a ray of hope for these families during these times of hardship. With its compact design, low fuel consumption, and capacity to seat four people the Civic turned out to be the ideal choice for a new car.

In addition to its compact design and fuel economy, the Civic was a fun car to travel both short and long distances. The Civic was initially launched as a front-wheel drive, two and three-door hatchback with a four-cylinder, water-cooled engine. As families eagerly traded off lesser space for less expenditure, the dominance of large cars in the United Stated was challenged. The Civics astronomical success prompted Honda to follow a more aggressive strategy and it began adding further variations and new to its existing portfolio of cars.

Honda's use of pioneering, new designs and improved performance enabled the Civic to retain its newly acquired status of a leading international compact car. The Civic was given a larger hood and front fender shape was changed to house a larger, low emission engine, which met environmental laws in effect at that time. A five-speed transmission, four-door wagon, was introduced to the existing line of models and with improved diversity car buyers all over the States started buying the new models.

To accommodate a more upscale section of the market, Honda introduced the Accord and Prelude; while the Civic carried on as one of the finest cars available in the compact economy class. The Accord and Prelude succeeded in becoming highly popular cars, further strengthening Honda's growing reputation as a world-class car manufacturer. Honda's long established and working environmentally green policy in every aspects of its operations provided an edge over its competitors, especially at a time when information about the dangers of greenhouse gases was being widely publicized.

Because of its originality and well-timed introduction, the Honda Civic soon established itself as the top performing compact car in the United States car market. Its striking designs, high reliability, safety features, fuel economy, and reasonable price helped it gain a large percentage of the international automotive market and become a prominent player in its class of cars. The Civic accomplished all this in an incredibly short time and succeeded in laying a firm foundation for years of triumph for Honda and its other cars.

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