Honda celebrates 50 years in Australia

Honda has celebrated 50 years of sales in Australia by unveiling a one-off range of gold-finished products.

From humble beginnings on February 4, 1969, the Australian subsidiary has grown exponentially across yard, motorcycle, marine and motor vehicle landscapes. Honda says it has sold more than five million products throughout its Australian tenure.

“Although Honda products had been imported and distributed around Australia by a variety of private companies since the 1950s, the brand’s official local presence began when Honda Motor Company in Japan sent Mr. Hidehiko Shiomi to Melbourne to setup a unified, national representation for Honda in Australia,” the manufacturer says.

Honda Australia managing director and chief executive, Hiroyuki Shimizu, added: “Honda Australia was a Honda subsidiary set up primarily to sell cars, but it has since grown with the global Honda brand to deliver a wide range of products and services that help make people’s lives more enjoyable".

Honda has commemorated the milestone with a swag of gold-plated products, using vinyl wraps and graphics. They include a special NSX supercar and Type R hot hatch, as well as marque’s flagship sportsbike, the CBR1000RR Fireblade. Even a Honda lawnmower got a guernsey.

Honda Australia’s early start-up range comprised quirky microcars and the 360cc and 600cc-engined Scamp, which were followed by the Life and Z360 models. Those models gave way to a fleet of more sophisticated machines, Honda at one point widely acknowledged as ‘the Japanese BMW’.

Today, Honda is considered one of the biggest mainstream automotive marques in Australia, and regularly finds itself towards the pointy end of the sales charts across cars, bikes and marine.

“Honda Australia started with just one employee, but today we have over 300 associates, are represented by 106 automotive dealerships and more than 800 motorcycle and power equipment distributors around the country, so we are extremely proud of the contribution we have made to Australian society,” the company said.