Honda was instituted by Soichiro Honda who was born in 1906 in Japan. The company evolved from East Sea Precision Machine Company in 1934, to Honda Technology Research Institute in 1946, and later Honda Technology Research Industry Corporation in 1948. In the same year Soichiro and partner Takeo Fujisawa founded Honda Motor Company Limited. Fujisawa became its first managing director in 1949. The corporation was involved in the manufacture of engine parts such as pistons and later ventured in the production of motorized bicycles. The company fashioned and produced its first motorcycle in 1949 and named it the Dream. By 1964, Honda had grown to be the leading manufacturer of motorcycle in the world (Nies, Zeng, Wang, & Xin, 2009).
Civic GX vs. Standard Civic
Both standard and GX Civics looks the same. Honda has gone to great length to ensure that GX and the standard Civics do not exhibit any difference. This was done to ensure that the ordinary standard civic customer feels comfortable driving a more advanced version of the civic without having to let go the comforts that came with the standard model. This was meant to enhance market acceptance of the environmentally friendly civic GX. The GX exhibits other characteristics of standard civic such as Honda durability, high performance, and exceptional safety rating. Most of the parts of these Civics are the same, and they are manufactured from the same assembly line.
However, the civic GX uses natural gas as opposed to the gasoline used by the standard civic. This makes one of the clean cars in the US market. While Honda tried to make everything look the same, there are about 210 parts in the civic GX car that are modified to run natural gas through them. Most notable part that is different in the GX, is its fuel tank. Since the natural gas needs to be compressed to be used properly, the fuel tank required is considerably larger than the standard counterpart. The tank is positioned behind the rear doors of the car. This makes the trunk of the GX smaller than that of the standard civic. However, it has been established that customers are willing to endure such inconveniences for the benefit of the environment, the economic savings, and the efficient energy usage of the GX.
Since the GX are manufactured at the same time of the year, the car dealers are able to anticipate new car shipments hence making it easy for them to market them to the customers. In addition, Honda is able to manufacture these cars according to the market demand. It has been established that the markets for GX Civics differ –some buy more than others. However, the GX vehicles have been found to be more profitable to fleet buyers as opposed to individual customers. This is because fleet buyers are able to buy large number of GX Civics from the manufacturer.
Nonetheless, building the civic GX has had its own challenges. One of the challenges facing Honda is in developing a fueling system for the GXs.
The competition from the gasoline structure has been immense. However, Honda has developed an in-home refueling device called the PHILL. PHILL system is designed to tap into the home natural gas system. It compresses the gas and pumps it into the fuel tank of the vehicle. This can be done throughout the night. It is estimated that it can take about six hours to refuel the vehicle to be able to drive for one hundred miles.
While there are arguments that natural gas is another fossil fuel, it can be obtained from renewable sources hence shifting the reliance from the depleting oil deposits. The PHILL system and the advancement of the natural gas vehicles have a future since it can be used by other vehicles such as pick-up trucks, trash-trucks, and even school buses. Honda has also developed other alternative fuel vehicles such as the hydrogen powered Honda FCX.
References
Chapman University (2011). Green Product Design and PHILL. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/16869247
Nies, M., Zeng, M. G., Wang, W., and Xin, M. (2009). Honda Motor Company Ltd. Honda, Japan.
