Lute Riley Honda

Operations Overview

We opened our first U.S. plant in 1979 and have evolved into a company that directly employs more than 25,000 Americans. More than 100,000 workers are employed at authorized Honda automobile, motorcycle and power-equipment dealerships in the United States. Tens of thousands of additional Americans are employed by more than nearly 600 U.S. suppliers from which Honda purchases parts and materials. Honda is proud to provide jobs that help better the American economy and will continue to work hard to do so.

History

In October 1946, Soichiro Honda established the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Two years later, Honda Motor Company, Ltd. was born, and in 1959 Honda opened its first storefront in Los Angeles with six industrious employees.

Philanthropy

Honda has long been committed to serving as a contributing member of society and the individual communities in which we do business-both economically and socially. We consider our responsibility to help make society a better place just as important as the goal of offering our customers products and services that result in the highest level of satisfaction. This viewpoint governs how we act as a company-and as individuals.

Honda's commitment is built on a foundation of two important Honda philosophies: Respect for the Individual and the Three Joys. Respect for the Individual reflects Honda's belief in the unique capabilities of the human being. This fundamental respect defines the company's relationship with Honda associates, customers, dealers, business partners and society. Simply put, our motivation and main concern is people-to make a difference by doing what's right. Honda also believes that every person involved in the process of buying, selling or producing our products should receive a sense of joy from the experience. Together, these Three Joys result in an overall joy of affiliation-a positive feeling resulting from a relationship with Honda. It is our desire that in every community in which we do business, society will want Honda to exist.

Strategic Vision:

Society will be better, in part, due to Honda's philanthropy and community leadership.

Mission:

To enrich the social, economic and educational well-being of communities and society through corporate and individual participation.

Goals:

• Recognize and respond to the needs of society
• Seek the understanding, agreement, commitment and involvement of associates
• Invest the appropriate level of resources
• Maximize the level of potential benefit
• Support Honda's business plan
 

Diversity

Honda's commitment to diversity has a strong supportive foundation in the Honda's corporate philosophy, established by our Company founders more than 40 years ago. At the core of our philosophy is the principle of Respect for the Individual, which has three basic components: trust, initiative and equality. This fundamental commitment to 'respect' guides Honda in all of our business operations.

As it applies to the workplace, our philosophy states: "Equality among colleagues is expressed in recognizing and respecting individual differences in each other, treating each other fairly and creating equal opportunity for everyone."

The shared spirit between this Honda's corporate philosphy and our diversity efforts is clear. And, Respect for the Individual is not limited to our associates but also defines the company's relationship within the communities where we operate. With these philosophical principles as our foundation, Honda's diversity efforts were formalized to provide the framework for our action. We know that to be successful, action and philosophy must be closely linked.

"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless." - Soichiro Honda, founder

Honda recognizes that successful organizations are those that understand the competitive advantage of effectively managing diversity. As a company, we recognize the need to embrace diversity in visible and tangible ways such as having a diverse workforce, a diverse dealer body, a diverse team of suppliers and supporting efforts in building strong community.

We also recognize the need to be diverse in less tangible ways by embracing diverse viewpoints and concerns in all that we do, from the design and marketing of our products, in the everyday interaction of our internal work teams, to being sensitive and responsible to the diverse needs of communities in which we do business. We recognize that, ultimately, it is the organizations that understand how our society is evolving and how the population of customers, associates and overall citizenry is changing, that will be the successful as leading edge organizations. It is our commitment, through our diversity efforts, to ensure that Honda is such an organization.

Reflecting our commitment to diversity, Honda has an active Executive Task Force on Diversity (ETFOD), which is comprised of senior executives from several company divisions. The focus of the Task Force is to regularly assess status on diversity efforts and target areas of improvement.

As the company moves forward, our commitment to diversity will continue not only to be reflected in our beliefs, but in our ongoing actions.