(04-30-2021, 11:31 AM)pekingduck_imp Wrote:

(04-30-2021, 05:28 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Atually, is this something new? I've been to a few focus groups for Honda motorcycles, the most recent being around 2015-ish, before the current Rebel came out. It was at their automotive headquarters campus in Torrance.

The move was in the planning for years. The design center, where you likely were, has moved within the last year. Local office space is at a premium, and Honda was putting up with less than ideal conditions, running shuttle busses between the main campus and these satellite locations.

Another reason Honda, Toyota, Nissan and other located to So Cal was because there was a large Japanese and Japanese-American community in Torrance and Gardena, with lots of markets, hotels, restaurants catering to visiting Japanese executives. Imagine the '60s, just 15-20 years after WW2, and there was still widespread "dislike" for Japanese. That has lessened somewhat.

(04-30-2021, 01:11 PM)GoldOxide_imp Wrote:

(04-30-2021, 11:31 AM)pekingduck_imp Wrote:

(04-30-2021, 05:28 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Atually, is this something new? I've been to a few focus groups for Honda motorcycles, the most recent being around 2015-ish, before the current Rebel came out. It was at their automotive headquarters campus in Torrance.

The move was in the planning for years. The design center, where you likely were, has moved within the last year. Local office space is at a premium, and Honda was putting up with less than ideal conditions, running shuttle busses between the main campus and these satellite locations.

Another reason Honda, Toyota, Nissan and other located to So Cal was because there was a large Japanese and Japanese-American community in Torrance and Gardena, with lots of markets, hotels, restaurants catering to visiting Japanese executives. Imagine the '60s, just 15-20 years after WW2, and there was still widespread "dislike" for Japanese. That has lessened somewhat.

lol - I would think so. The wide acceptance of Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan, etc. etc.

While at it, additionally: BMW, Volkswagon, Mercedes, Audi, etc. etc.

(04-30-2021, 01:59 PM)cj599_imp Wrote: Did you see that honda says they are gona be all electric by 2040 :'c

(04-30-2021, 01:59 PM)Stichill_imp Wrote: I remember a National Lampoon piece in the '70s about what makes countries mad, and what they do to get even. For Germany and Japan, it was something like:[ul] [li]What makes them mad? Defeating them in a world war[/li] [li]What they do to get even: Destroy your economy
[/li][/ul]
It was tongue in cheek, but in satire and humor there's always a grain of truth. Germany and Japan became economic powerhouses after the war, with new capital infrastructure and a very powerful drive to overcome the devastation and return themselves and their countries to prosperity and success. Meanwhile, the US was wasting blood and treasure in Vietnam and fighting with ourselves...some things never change...

(04-30-2021, 01:59 PM)cj599_imp Wrote: Did you see that honda says they are gona be all electric by 2040 :'c

(04-30-2021, 10:19 PM)pekingduck_imp Wrote:

(04-30-2021, 01:59 PM)cj599_imp Wrote: Did you see that honda says they are gona be all electric by 2040 :'c

And yet, oddly, they don't have a single all-electric car in their lineup in the US. More broadly, at least in the US, they have quickly lost their market position to Hyundai and Kia, and of course Toyota. They are almost in the position the British car and bike makers were in the '60s, staying the course while others zoom past.

(05-01-2021, 12:11 AM)Frulk_imp Wrote: From the tone of this thread it sounds like Honda is, or rather has, become a Japanese version of Harley Davidson.