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The year was 1949. The fledgling Honda Motor
Company made small, rugged 50cc motorized
bikes for use in cities; it sold about 1200
per year in a decimated Japanese market. By
1959, they were selling 285,000 bikes and
expanding.
The United States was booming, and Honda
wanted to sell some bikes in the U.S. Honda
knew that they could never sell their small
bikes; only larger, more powerful European
and American road bikes sold here.
After a careful assessment of the U.S. market
and thorough strategic planning, they sent
three employees to Los Angeles to introduce
their new motorcycles designed to compete in
the U.S. market.
Their motorcycles failed miserably. The
reputation of existing manufacturers was
excellent; Japanese products were notorious
for poor quality. Frustrated, their three
employees rode their small Honda-made 50cc
bikes on weekends, in the hills surrounding L.A.
Locals started to take notice. It looked like
fun. They purchased some of the bikes for
themselves. Soon, others also clamored for
the bikes. After a couple of years, the three
employees woke up to the opportunity that had
grown up around them. They convinced
management that they had just found a new
market niche—recreational bikes
rather than heavy long-distance bikes.
It took some adjustments to their
distribution and selling strategies;
management had to be convinced to abandon
their strategic plan, but the three were
successful in launching the Honda 50cc
SuperCub in the U.S. A UCLA marketing
student came up with the slogan that would
become a household phrase: "You meet the
nicest people on a Honda." Sales exploded.
As Honda gained supremacy at the low end of
the motorcycle market, they eventually turned
their attention to the higher end. By 1975
they dominated the entire industry. Profits
from motorized bikes were invested in
manufacturing cars, where Honda would also
make their mark.
In 2008, Honda announced that sixty
million SuperCubs had been sold
worldwide—the best selling motorized
vehicle in history.
The story of Honda's success started with
learning—paying attention to what was
failing and what was succeeding, talking
about it, and making innovative adjustments.
That is the fundamental formula for
successful innovation anywhere in any
industry or organization: learn, talk,
create—the three strokes of the
engine of innovation.
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