Honda motor company is a global company that deals with various automobile products. The company's name is associated with the founder Soichiro Honda, who initially dealt with the production and supply of Toyota with piston rings. He later learned about engines from Tokai Seiki Company and later bought it after the Second World War. He then opened a Honda research company that came up with various engines that would be fitted in the motorcycles and bicycles (Thomas, 2015). The company further came up with a full and efficient motorcycle that has been selling highly over the past few years. After the launch of the motorcycles, the company engaged itself in the automobile industry by producing trucks and sports cars. Over the years, it is reported to be among the most steady profit maker (Erjavec & Thompson, 2014).

The company operates within four principles that include; respect for individual, the joy of creating, buying and selling. The company takes into consideration individual needs after which it creates new products to suit the needs of the prospective consumers. The products are then sold to the customers who gladly receive them as they are designed to meet their needs and are sold at consumer friendly prices. The embracing of the four principles has enabled the company to remain in the lead in its production (Thomas, 2015).

The company is among the best three automakers in the Japan industry. The initial product of the company was motorcycles and is still among the best producers of the commodity. Honda Company further ventured into the production of Prelude, Accord and Civic which proved to be the most popular among the three in America. The popularity was both advantageous and disadvantageous to the company. The advantage was it encouraged the consumers to make more purchases that increased the level of profits in the company while the disadvantage was that it increased the level the level of crime. Theft increased as thieves aimed at stealing the most selling product, that is, civic. Honda also engaged in the production of industrial and agricultural engines machinery, generators and some vehicles. Honda has built a good reputation as it has never experienced serious financial problems and has had a good financial set up (Erjavec & Thompson, 2014).

2.0 Honda’s subsidiaries

Honda has several subsidiaries that take care of different interests in the market. Most of the subsidiaries are grouped according to their purpose. One of the subsidiaries handled the Acura brand that was first introduced in the Japanese automobile market in 1986. Honda Aircraft company subsidiary handles the invention of new and more appealing technologies about the aerodynamics. Honda soltec subsidiary handles selling all-purpose solar cells to all the prospective consumers. Honda has another subsidiary located in Brazil which is referred to as "Moto Honda da Amaonia" and it helps in launching Honda's new fuel flexible brands (Erjavec & Thompson, 2014).

3.0 SWOT Analysis of Honda automotive company

Honda carries out the SWOT analysis to determine its future. The strengths that are the strong internal factors of the company are identified and maximized while the harmful internal factors, threats, are minimized to a great extent. Opportunities that are the strong external factors are also taken advantage of while the harmful external aspects, weaknesses are greatly reduced (Gopinath & Siciliano, 2013).

3.1 Strengths of the Honda automotive company

To perform well, a company must be able to identify its strong points and take advantage of them over its competitors. Honda automotive company is a global company and is very famous. The fame is an advantage to the firm because consumers always demand and purchase their products hence increasing their profits. The company has a greater competitive advantage because its products are well diversified to the entire market. Unlike other automotive companies, the company can exercise both decentralization and divisional organizational structure, and this discourages disruptions in the company (Gopinath & Siciliano, 2013).

Since the company has been operating for quite some time, it has gained quite a lot of experience with the automotive industry and as such it's always informed on the decisions it makes. The experience has enabled it to create a good reputation hence instilling trust and loyalty to their consumers. Once the consumers build such trust, they remain loyal to the brand hence increasing the level of sales and profits expected (Gopinath & Siciliano, 2013). Before engaging a given region to buy its products, Honda Company exercises its skills in in-depth market research techniques to obtain information about the needs of the target population for it to work towards meeting their satisfaction (Kaynak & Rogers, 2013). Due to its ability to satisfy its consumers, Honda Company can retain its old consumers and create new ones from time to time. The company has proved to be highly credible to its consumers (Gopinath & Siciliano, 2013).

Honda Company is also the largest manufacturer of vehicles, and this enables it to have the largest market share for all its products. Furthermore, the company is well conversant with technology, and any changes in innovation are adopted promptly by the company. The developed production systems in the company result to the most durable products that are considered to be of high quality by the consumers. The massive investment in sports cars gave the company a clue of the durable engines to invest in the future (Kaynak & Rogers, 2013).

3.2 Weaknesses of the Honda automotive company

Hill, Jones & Schilling (2014) argue that for a company to thrive in its operations there is a need to identify its weak areas and invest in reversing them. Some of Honda's strengths are also weaknesses when assessed critically. For instance, Honda's large market production of a different product is a disadvantage as it has tremendously failed in the truck industry when compared to other producers. The rising of new products from other automotive companies have made the consumers of Honda products conclude that they are boring, and they need a change (Carels, 2011).

The fact that the company is well conversant with various technologies encourages it to manufacture vehicles with new technologies and in each production, the prices continue rising which reduces their demand. The consumers tend to switch to different companies whose products have cheap and affordable prices. Some engines of the Honda company vehicles and motorcycles are so loud that they end up making the final consumer uncomfortable. Such engines discourage some consumers from using the Honda products hence reducing the amount of sales and profits made (Carels, 2011). Even though the company developed the market for their products in different places to gain more profits, not all the markets have met this objective. For instance in the Europe market, the company is only assured of 1.1 percent of the market that is far below its target (Erjavec & Thompson, 2014).

At some point in its production, Honda Company had faulty parts that had a negative impression of the company's reputation hence discouraging the new set of consumers. The increase in the cost of raw materials has also contributed to the steep prices prompting the consumers to switch to the substitute brands (Erjavec & Thompson, 2014). The decentralization of the company is a risky action as whenever a mistake was made in one department, it could be transferred to the subsequent departments and hence the final product would be tampered with just because of a single mistake. The combination of all the above problems is a weakness to the company too (Carels, 2011).

3.3 Opportunities for the Honda automotive company

In the business world, companies are watchful on the current trends to identify the arising viable and profitable opportunities to embrace. The automotive products require fossil fuels to operate and in the recent past, the fossil fuel sources have declined greatly hence increasing the fuel prices. Additionally, the use of the fuels leads to emission of CO2 that leads to air pollution. Therefore, there is a need to embrace the production of fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles powered by electricity and hybrid gas. They should also develop a flexible engine that can be able to accommodate little fuel or some hydrogen gas (Mi, Masrur & Gao, 2011).

The Honda automotive company should equally improve its truck line of production to meet the requirements of the target consumers for them to compete favorably. There is an opportunity for the company in the airline products because of their rising demand in the market. To curb the great competition in the motorcycle industry, Honda should take a point of acquiring or buying the small competitors to further increase its market share and reduce the number of competitors in the industry (Thomas, 2015).

The company should also engage in profitable and meaningful partnerships in the motorcycle industry for it to benefit from the reduced costs and benefit from the synergetic effect of the combination. There is a greater opportunity for dealing with the weaknesses of the Honda automotive company as this action will reduce the level of losses associated with the weaknesses of the company hence impacting positively (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014).

3.4 Threats to the Honda Company

Not all external factors associated with business are advantageous to it. For a company to be outstanding in its operations, it must identify the harmful external aspects that threaten its performance and take measures against them as early as possible (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014).

The greatest threat to Honda Company is competition as new business entrants keep invading the market with new and better products hence outsmarting the company. Changes in the economic conditions are a threat to the company because they can impact negatively on the expected sales and profits of the company. Reduction of fuel prices due to the invention of shell gas is a threat to Honda Company given the level of investments it made on the alternatives of the fuel. The shell gas affects the level of Honda's sales as the extraction leads to lower consumption of the expensive Honda products hence leading to losses (Mi, Masrur & Gao, 2011).

The rising prices of the raw materials increased the cost of production of Honda products which is disadvantageous as the competitors produce their goods at low costs hence low prices. Since Honda Company is a double player, it may end up spending more in regions that are not interested in its products hence incurring losses (Thomas, 2015).

4.0 Honda’s market

Hill, Jones and Schilling(2014) assert that Honda being a global company, its market is spread in the entire world. Due to the intense rivalry in the motors industry, Honda Company chose the strategy of market segmentation where the markets were divided into three. The markets are; sports, Japan, and international markets. The company faced stiff competition from the Toyota and Nissan products in the Japan market and was forced to open several outlets all over the world to maximize the sales and increase their level of profits. Honda also launched a massive advertising campaign over its products that helped to create much awareness to the consumers (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014).

Honda further carried out a market research in the markets that enabled it to understand the needs and preferences of the final consumers. The information that was obtained enabled the company modify and redesign the products to meet the satisfaction of different consumers in different market segments. For instance in the sports segment, the company has designed the sports cars to withstand long races in the sports without breaking down. Such modification meets the requirements of the final consumer (Evans & Lindsay, 2012).

5.0 Leadership and management of Honda Company

Evans and Lindsay (2012) state that after the foundation of the company, it was led by Takahiro Hachigo. The mode of leadership combined both the philosophy of imagination and innovation to meet the company’s targets. The philosophy enabled the company to view different ideas in multiple ways. It also makes use of the horizontal decision-making process that is important in companies. Finally, the combined philosophy enhances the optimization of the company for it to meet both the individual and organizational interests. Such optimization encourages teamwork within the organization and improved relationship with the third parties who are consumers (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013).

6.0 Current emerging issues of the Honda Company

According to Cullen & Parboteeah (2013), any action carried out by Honda Company will either lead to its improved or decreased performance. For instance, the company is currently planning to double its production and export of the motorcycles in the Vietnamese countries. The act is driven by the strong urge to be the best motorbike shareholder in Asia (Thomas, 2015). The company may launch a new brand of motorbikes to be supplied to the old selling points. The action will require a new set of consumers who will find the new product fit for their consumption. The venture is risky because it will amount to supernormal profits in case it becomes successful but if it turns out to be unsuccessful, it will amount to tremendous losses that will lead to poor performance of the company. Therefore, there is a need for in-depth market analysis before making a decision (Leon, 2013).

Another arising issue is about the faulty airbags made by Takata. The defects have forced the Honda motor company to replace its top management with a new one. The president, Mr. Ito was changed into a senior advisor of the company while Takahiro Hachigo took over the presidential post in June 2015. His leadership style will determine the company’s future performance. In case he adopts undesirable leadership techniques; he will end up making the same mistakes that Mr. Ito made and vice versa (Thomas, 2015).

7.0 Future expectations of the company

Cullen & Parboteeah (2013) explain that the change of leadership in the company is expected to change the direction of the entire company as different individuals possess a different way of doing things. It’s expected that the Honda vehicles and motorcycles will be modified to satisfy the target consumer to the fullest. The company will also apply their technologies to redesign its products to reach the expectations of the young adults. The action will help to reduce the effect of boredom felt by the groups of consumers (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013).

Given a chief executive officer with an effective global experience, the company will embrace and maximize the effect of the unutilized global opportunities. Since China is a big market for Honda’s motorcycles, its increasing population will be a solution to most of the competitive threats as this will increase the level of sales and profits earned by the company (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013).

8.0 Honda’s target consumers

Erjavec & Thompson (2014) explain that for any business venture, the main aim is to sell their products and these calls for the identification of the interested buyers. Therefore, there is a need for a company to carry out a comprehensive market research before launching the products. The information obtained enables the company to be aware of what to expect of the consumers and to work towards fully satisfying them Honda Company specializes in various products and hence divides the market into segments depending on the products and the geographical location of the target consumers (Leon, 2013).

Honda products are geared to different age groups as people from the same age bracket tend to influence each other’s behaviors on the choice and preferences they have. The company, therefore, designs their products to fit both young and old. Geographic location also influences the requirements of the products to the consumers from a specific place are brought up in different cultural set ups that determine their perceptions on different products. For instance consumers in the US consider the safety of a car before purchasing it and hence cars in America tend to be heavier and bigger than those in Asian countries that have the opposite expectations. For the company to perform well, it must combine both the age and location aspects in its market analysis (Leon, 2013).

According to Erjavec & Thompson (2014), Honda deals with the transportation industry and its sales depend on the spending powers of the target population. In most circumstances age and socioeconomic levels are directly proportional to each other. Therefore the higher the age of a consumer the greater the level of expenditure and the lower the age bracket of the consumer, the lower the level of spending. However, the younger consumers tend to spend more than the elder ones (Thomas, 2015).

Initially, the company aimed at meeting the demand of the younger population for them to retain the consumers but as time went by, Honda concentrated on the consumers in the age bracket of 30 to 50 years. The products were designed more luxuriously to meet the group's demands. The company combined the age, gender, location and levels of technology of the consumer to modify its various products. Considering the socioeconomic level of the major target, affordability is not a problem as the individuals are always endowed with the fund to purchase whatever they need. The much emphasis on the quality of this target group's satisfaction has lead to the young population rendering the products boring and uncomfortable as they don't suit their needs (Erjavec & Thompson, 2014).

9.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

Honda Company is expected to perform even better if it employs different strategies in its operations. The company should concentrate in rectifying its undesirable weaknesses for it to meet the global outstanding standards. It’s recommended that the company should critically analyze the product mix to succeed in the market. The product mix comprises of the product, place, price, and promotion. Honda Company should redesign its products appropriately to meet consumers’ satisfaction and price it appropriately. The company should further identify the location of the interested customers and then determine the best channels of distribution to the consumers. Much promotion through methods like advertisement should be carried out continuously to widen the products awareness. The actions will encourage consumers to purchase the products from the Honda Company.

References

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Cullen, J., & Parboteeah, K. P. (2013). Multinational management. Cengage Learning.

Erjavec, J., & Thompson, R. (2014). Automotive technology: a systems approach. Cengage Learning.

Evans, J., & Lindsay, W. (2012). Managing for quality and performance excellence. Cengage Learning.

Gopinath, C., & Siciliano, J. (2013). Strategize!: experiential exercises in strategic management. Cengage Learning.

Hill, C., Jones, G., & Schilling, M. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.

Kaynak, E., & Rogers, R. E. (2013). Implementation of total quality management: A comprehensive training program. Routledge.

Leon, S. (2013). Sustainability in Supply Chain Management Casebook: Applications in SCM. FT Press.

Mi, C., Masrur, M. A., & Gao, D. W. (2011). Hybrid electric vehicles: principles and applications with practical perspectives. John Wiley & Sons.

Thomas, C. S. (2015). Sustainable Transportation Options for the 21st Century and Beyond: A Comprehensive Comparison of Alternatives to the Internal Combustion Engine. Springer.