Soichiro Honda: Rejected Piston Rings, Bata Bata Bikes and the Super Cub

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Soichiro Honda worked as a mechanic at the Art Shokai garage before founding Tokai Seiki in 1937 to make piston rings. Toyota rejected his rings for poor quality, so he enrolled in engineering school without graduating and toured factories to study Toyota's quality control, including the five whys. By 1941 he had automated production so unskilled workers could meet Toyota's standards. During World War II the government took control, Toyota took a 40 percent stake and Honda was demoted to senior managing director. A B-29 raid in 1944 and an earthquake in early 1945 destroyed his plants, and he sold what remained to Toyota for 450,000 yen.

In 1946 he started the Honda Technical Research Institute in a tiny shack, fitting 500 surplus Tohatsu radio generator engines to bicycles, with hot water bottles as fuel tanks. In 1949 he incorporated Honda Motor Company with Takeo Fujisawa running the business side, and that year released the D-Type, the first Dream. Honda became the world's largest motorcycle maker by 1964, entered Formula One that year and won a Grand Prix in Mexico in 1965. He stepped back alongside Fujisawa in 1973 and died in 1991.

• The motorized bicycle was nicknamed the Bata Bata for the sputtering sound of its engine.
• A 1975 Boston Consulting Group report credited Honda's U.S. success to deliberate strategy, while Richard Pascale's interviews told a different story.
• Honda's 300cc bikes overheated and seized on American highways, while the Super Cub scooters staff used for errands drew buyers in San Francisco.
• In 1963 Honda entered cars with the T360 mini truck and the chain-driven S500 sports car.
• Honda has built over 500 million motorcycles as of May 2025, and Ayrton Senna called it the greatest company in the world.