196 1 year, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan put forward a plan to revitalize the automobile industry by pooling the resources of domestic automobile enterprises to form three automobile groups, hoping to standardize the Japanese automobile industry with national strength and avoid internal friction. The specific way is to integrate the eight automobile enterprises at that time into three groups: mass production, mini-cars and special vehicles, and prohibit the emergence of new forces to build cars. Although the Interim Measures for the Revitalization of Specific Industries was submitted to the National Assembly for deliberation in 1963, the three sessions of the National Assembly failed to pass, but it directly promoted the birth of Honda.
Because of his strong opposition, Zong Ichiro also knew that it was useless to shout against it. He wanted to come up with eye-catching automobile products, so he devoted himself to automobile research and development. Honda, which has made great efforts, began to mass-produce S, N and T series civilian cars from 1963, and proved that it also has a position in the automobile field by competing for F 1.
This is Honda's 1960s. The champion achievement in the field of F 1 made the pupils in this automobile class famous. However, it is also an unavoidable fact that there are few models, small enterprises and poor family background in the field of civil vehicles. In contrast, Toyota and Nissan not only have rich product lines, but also tried water in the United States in the 1950s.
1.？ The parallel world of America
On the east side of the Pacific Ocean, the United States is in the golden age after World War II. The total economic output rose from $523.3 billion in 196 1 to $65,438 in 197 1. There is no more prosperous and prosperous place in the world.
Celebrities, politicians and movie stars drive Cadillac and Lincoln Continent in big cities. A car body more than five meters long and two meters wide is a luxury in terms of size. Shiny chrome plating only cares about the beautiful towering tail, high-profile and bright body, and the leather color of the interior, all of which show wealth and identity.
Young people who grew up in the postwar baby boom, driving Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette and Pontiac GTO, released youthful hormones with tire tracks on asphalt roads. These cars are very cheap, but the bulging muscles on the wheel arch and the powerful V8 under the hood have ignited the demand of young people. Horsepower, acceleration, smoke under tires and crooked underbody are all things that young people care about.
Ordinary cars are also bold in size and exaggerated in power. Chevrolet BelAir, Ford Galaxie, Chrysler 300 and other full-size cars are the daily life of the American people. Various brands provide a large number of models with a length of 5.34 meters and a displacement of 7.0. The form and configuration of two-door, four-door, convertible, hardtop and even station wagon give the American people extremely rich choices.
There are also some choices for medium-sized cars, such as Ford Fairlane, Buick Skylark and Pontiac Tempest. Of course, although American manufacturers call themselves medium-sized cars, the concept of medium-sized cars is completely different from today. These cars are still about 5 meters long, and the power is still mainly L6/V6 with more than 3 liters and V8 with 4-5 liters.
Of course, not all compact models, you can still find them with a magnifying glass, such as Chevrolet Kewell, Nova and Ford Falcon. The length of these three cars is about 4.6 meters, which is similar to that of the third generation Toyota Crown in the same period, but the maximum power of the Crown is 2.25 liters straight six, the minimum power of the three cars is 2.4 straight six, and the last two cars have V8 of more than 4 liters.
So at this time, American cars have no restraint, except Toyota Crown, Corona, Corona, Nissan 1000, 4 10, Volkswagen Beetle and Kaman? Ghia and other imported models, American car companies don't know what a car is, and no one cares about fuel consumption. People shouted "Noisy? Love? Isn't it? War (make love, don't fight) "Anti-Vietnam War, while enjoying the comfortable life in the golden age.
But things are slowly changing.
2.？ Honda stepped onto the car stage.
Success is not always hard to pursue, but often waiting for opportunities while being yourself. Honda is like this.
The federal government of the United States promulgated the automobile pollution prevention law in 1965, and Yasuo Yagi, the head of Honda's engine performance, smelled a different smell. On the one hand, the tightened automobile emission standards will affect Honda's future export models, and on the other hand, Japan's domestic emission policies will follow suit. So Honda set up an air pollution research group with 10 people and began to collect information.
1966, Japan's Ministry of Transport put forward the emission standard of harmful automobile exhaust, 1967 implemented the basic law of public pollution countermeasures in August, and 1968 implemented the air pollution prevention and control law in June. In this context, Honda finally established the Air Pollution Countermeasure Research Institute.
1970, the United States passed the Automobile Pollution Countermeasures Act, which shocked all automobile manufacturers, that is, the famous muskie Act. The bill stipulates that carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides of cars sold from 65438 to 0975 should be reduced to one tenth of the current level. Such standards are so strict that all manufacturers find it impossible to achieve them. In Honda's view, the new regulations bring all manufacturers to the same starting line, which is an opportunity for the weak Honda, so Honda began to develop low-emission engines, which later became the famous CVCC engine.
It is not easy to control emissions and reduce pollution. The best way is to control the production of pollutants from the source, but this is impossible because of the engine control technology at that time. The pollutants come from the bad combustion condition of gasoline in the cylinder. The ideal combustion state is that gasoline and air are evenly mixed according to the ratio of 1: 14.7, so that gasoline is just burnt out and air is exhausted, but it is impossible to be so accurate in practice. At the same time, the mixture and gasoline are unevenly distributed in the cylinder, and there is a complex microscopic process from spark plug ignition to flame propagation. Up to now, we are constantly optimizing the combustion process of in-cylinder mixture, such as the familiar Chuangchi Blue Sky X, variable compression ratio VCT, high tumble-flow ratio, high speed combustion and so on.
However, at that time, because the EFI technology controlled by ECU had not yet appeared (Bosch D-jetronic had just started), the fuel supply mode of the engine was still mainly carburetor (little mechanical fuel injection), so the air-fuel ratio could not be accurately controlled, and the emission pollution remained high. In order to solve this problem, almost all automobile manufacturers have made great efforts to change the direction of catalyst in exhaust aftertreatment, while Honda believes that the durability of catalyst in vibration, high temperature and other States is a problem, so it explores other directions.
Inspired by the diesel engine, Honda found a method of primary combustion chamber and secondary combustion chamber, that is, high-concentration combustion was first carried out in the mixer of the secondary combustion chamber, and then stable lean combustion was carried out in the primary combustion chamber, so that full combustion could reduce pollutants from the source. Honda calls this technology CVCC (Compound Vortex Speed Regulating Combustion). 1972, the CVCC engine was officially released, and Honda took the lead in developing an engine that met the requirements of the muskie Act.
3.？ The original Accord was very popular.
The success of CVCC is the result of Honda's internal cultivation and self-improvement. As soon as the CVCC engine was successful, the opportunity for Honda's rise came.
1When the fourth Middle East war broke out in June, 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an oil embargo in order to attack Israel and countries that supported Israel. Not only have oil prices soared in Europe and America, but the oil shortage has left many gas stations without oil to sell. People are beginning to realize that their favorite full-size V8 car consumes so much fuel, and it is very important to have a fuel-efficient car.
As a result, Honda, which has been thinking about how to impress American consumers, simply won. After 1975 landed in the United States, the sales of Civic equipped with CVCC engine increased very rapidly. However, Honda also knows that Honda needs higher-level products than Civic, so it launched the 67 1 project (namely Accord) at 1972.
In order to adapt to the characteristics of European and American high-speed markets, one of the core development goals of Accord is that when cruising at the speed of 130km/h, the noise of the carriage does not exceed 70 decibels. This standard is much higher than Civic, because the noise of Civic reaches 70 decibels at 100km/h/h, and the financial situation of Honda, which is dragged down by 1300/ 145, does not allow Accord to achieve higher comfort and luxury through excessive cost, so Accord should share more parts with Civic as much as possible.
1976, the first generation Accord was born. Because the American market survey shows that the hatchback in cars with a displacement of less than 2.0 is also very popular, the three-door hatchback version is listed first, which is somewhat similar to the Civic in appearance, except that the front of the car is replaced by four 5.74-inch round lights allowed by American regulations. There is no Honda H logo on the front of the car, but several dazzling letters CVCC are embedded in the black net. The body size has increased a lot, with the length, width and height increased from 37311505 mm in Civic to 4115/1620 mm respectively, and the wheelbase increased from 2200mm to 2380 mm.
The following year, the car version of the Accord also began to be sold in the United States. Although the wheelbase of the sedan version is the same as that of the hatchback version, the body is obviously increased, and the length, width and height are increased to 4450 and 1620mm respectively. Although the legroom in the back row has not increased, the lateral space is more spacious, the huge trunk is very practical, and the long rear suspension is quite like a full-size American car. The power is 1.6 liter and 1.8 liter four-cylinder engine, and the maximum power is 68 horsepower and 80 horsepower respectively.
After the Accord went on the market, the sales volume was very good. The sales volume of the hatchback accord was 65,438+08,000 in the first half of the year after its release in 65,438+0976, and the sales volume of the sedan version soared to 76,000 in the second year after its launch, and then the sales volume increased year by year, from 65,438+09865438 to 65,438+0 respectively.
4.？ Precise and ingenious market vacancy
The success of Accord can be attributed to its proper and ingenious positioning. Roughly speaking, it is to use its own product advantages to insert the product gap of competing products.
Accord's fuel economy is the biggest competitiveness, and its comprehensive EPA fuel consumption can reach 42mpg. Supplementing fuel economy is the mechanical quality of Accord. In order to improve performance, both front and rear axles of Accord are McPherson independent suspensions, and radial tires are used instead of bias tires, which further reduces rolling resistance and improves handling, which is more comfortable than many models with integral bridge rear axles. The high-profile models are also equipped with a hydraulic power steering system.
In terms of configuration, the Accord is very generous. The original Accord shouted "We? Manufacturing? It? Simple "slogan, it did it. The Accord comes standard with flannel seats, car radios, tachometers, intermittent wipers, rear window wipers and electric heating defogging, especially the trunk switch in the car, which greatly facilitates the access to the trunk.
In addition to fuel-efficient and practical product quality, Accord has also found areas with few competitors. Among Japanese, datsun Bluebird 6 10 and Toyota Corona are the arch rivals of Accord, but both of them are old models that have been on the market for three years, and their appearance and practical design are not trendy enough. More importantly, although the wheelbase of these two cars is longer than that of the Accord, the shorter body length and the layout of the longitudinal rear drive make the Accord with front drive still not fall into the wind.
As for American manufacturers, although a number of "introverted" small cars appeared after the oil crisis in the 1970s, it seems that the skill tree is somewhat biased. Like Chevrolet Vega, Monza, Chevrolet, AMC? Pedestrian, Bumblebee, Gremlin or Ford Pinto, although all shorter than 4.6 meters, some even close to 4 meters, are still the two-door hatchback version with front and rear drive, and the power still has a large displacement "feudal residue". Coupled with the lack of experience in small cars, these cars cannot be compared with Accord in terms of fuel consumption, convenience and failure rate.
Therefore, its excellent quality and precise positioning have enabled the Accord to quickly open up the situation in the United States.
5.？ The earliest Japanese cars took root in America.
It's 198 1 in a blink of an eye. It's time to change the Accord. The second generation Accord still has three-door hatchback and four-door hatchback. The body size is similar to the first generation, but the wheelbase is increased to 2450mm, and the shape is more tough. Change the headlights to four 6.5? x？ 3.9 inch rectangular lights, cruise control, variable power steering, electric? New technologies such as Gyrocator navigation system and 4-speed automatic gearbox began to be loaded. But these are not the most important points-the most important point of the second-generation Accord is that it has taken root in American manufacturing.
197 1 In August, the U.S. government introduced the dollar defense policy, and the yen began to appreciate gradually, which was a blow to Honda, which accounted for 60% of overseas market sales, especially relying heavily on exports to the United States. Takeo Fujisawa, then vice president, said, "If we don't consider the future lifestyle with new ideas, the future will be repeatedly hit by external pressure. The model of introducing technology, mass production and rationalizing the substantial growth of exports has encountered bottlenecks, and some novel practices must be considered. "
The oil crisis of 1973 also seriously affected Japan's economic development, so the concept of "making production more decentralized and international, and making products where needed" began to become popular within Honda. As far as the United States is concerned, production in the United States can increase local employment and taxes, reduce the trade deficit between the United States and Japan, and thus reduce the resistance of the US government and market. So in 1974, Honda began to study the feasibility of building a factory in the United States, focusing on cost control and quality consistency.
In order to make way for the American factory project, Honda even stopped the construction of the second production line of the Lu Ling factory in the case of tight production capacity of Civic, just to take a long-term view and concentrate on cultivating the United States. At that time, President Chuan Dao said, "Now the sales volume of Civic is really good, and Honda's automobile industry has finally sprouted on Civic. However, in China, we have no confidence and preemptive opportunity in terms of sales volume and capital. Compared with this useless competition, I think we should win or lose in the biggest market in the United States at this time. We should establish a motorcycle factory or even an automobile factory in the United States where Japanese automakers have not yet appeared. "
After a thorough visit to many dealers and government officials, a visit to the factory facilities of Ford and other car companies, and an investigation of the feasibility of the factory site and supporting facilities, Honda finally established a motorcycle factory with a production capacity of 60,000 vehicles in Ohio 1977.
From June 65438 to June 0979, the benchmark crude oil price rose sharply at the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which triggered the second oil crisis and further promoted Honda's automobile production in the United States. 1In June, 1980, Honda opened an automobile factory next to the motorcycle factory, with an investment of 250 million US dollars and an annual production capacity of 6.5438+0.5 million vehicles.1June, 1986, the second production line was built with a total production capacity of 300,000 vehicles. So from 1983, Accord began to have an "American hukou", which is also loved by the US and Japanese governments in trade frictions.
From 198 1 to 1985, the sales volume of the second-generation Accord continued to rise in the four-year life cycle. The annual sales volume of 1985 has reached 268,000, making it the best-selling Japanese car. Seeing the success of the Accord, Toyota got impatient and stopped the old Corona sedan series with rear drive. The Camry series symbolizing the Accord was launched on 1983, and the sales volume of 1985 was128,000 vehicles. Nissan Maxima 1982 went on the market, and the sales volume of 1985 was only 99,000. Obviously, these two have fallen behind the Accord by several places.
6.？ Win the American auto market?
1985, the third generation Accord was born. After the success of the first two generations, the third generation Accord is more handy. In the American market, the third generation Accord is mainly a four-door sedan, on the basis of which a coupe is derived and sold back to Japan. The size of the third-generation Accord has been significantly increased, with the wheelbase increased to 2600mm and the length, width and height increased to 4565 and 1.694mm respectively. The space is more spacious, the appearance and interior layout are simpler, and the power is increased by 2.0 liters. The chassis has also been greatly improved, and the front and rear suspension has been changed from McPherson type to double wishbone type, entirely to improve driving power.
On the basis of the great improvement of users, word-of-mouth and product quality of the previous two generations, the sales volume of the third-generation Accord continued to climb, from 325,000 vehicles in 1986 to 363,000 vehicles in 1989. This year, the Accord surpassed Chevrolet Cavaliers, Celebrities and Ford Sedan, becoming the highest-selling car in the American market.
It is not easy to achieve such a result, because after nearly 65,438+00 years of confusion, American manufacturers have gradually changed their minds and launched a number of models with compact front and rear wheels, good space and fuel consumption to compete head-on with Accord, Civic, Corolla and other models. These cars also have great advantages in terms of price and number of dealers.
Taking the price of 1986 as an example, the price of Ford Escort ranges from $6,700 to $9 100, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of EPA is 23mpg；; The price of Chevrolet Cavalier ranges from $7,000 to $65,438 +0. 1 0,000, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of EPA is 22mpg. The price of Chevrolet Celebrities with a length of 4.8 meters and a displacement of 2.5 liters ranges from 1. 1 to1.20 thousand dollars, the price of Honda Accord ranges from 1. 1 to1.50 thousand dollars, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of EPA is 24mpg.
Obviously, in the case that the fuel consumption advantage is not obvious but the price is obviously high, the Accord still becomes the sales champion, which shows that the sales performance of Honda Accord is very high, and it also shows that after more than ten years of efforts, the Accord has been deeply rooted in the American market.
Since then, the Accord has maintained an annual sales volume of more than 300,000 vehicles, and has been in the forefront of American car sales until now. The pace of the Accord has never stopped. After occupying the American market, Accord has turned its attention to the China market with unlimited potential since the fourth generation. ...
Text || Monday to Monday
Figure | Network
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.