Motorcycle Manufacturers
The motorcycle industry faces a host of challenges. Baby-boomers are aging out of riding, and their replacements aren’t buying bikes. Meanwhile, bigger cities are banning motorcycles.
The Indian two-wheeler OEMs are adept at vendor development, and Hero MotoCorp has a decades-long track record of success in this regard. But even they can’t escape the forces of change.
Honda
Honda is one of the best-known motorcycle manufacturers around, creating innovative bikes for a variety of different demographics. However, the company did not start out as a multinational industry giant. Instead, it was a small family-owned business that grew into what it is today, thanks to the vision of its founder.
Soichiro Honda was born into a blacksmith family and began working with machines at an early age, helping his father repair bicycles. He eventually branched out and opened his own garage, where he began making parts for other vehicles. His machining company, Tokai Seiki, eventually landed a contract to produce piston rings for Toyota. However, the company was hit by a double-whammy of wartime bombing raids and an earthquake that destroyed the factory and wiped out all production.
Despite this setback, Honda still wanted to design and build more motorcycles, so he used some of the money left over from the sale of his company to create a test track for his designs. This became the famous Suzuka Circuit, and it helped Honda improve the quality of his designs.
By the 1960s, Honda had established its first overseas subsidiary in Los Angeles, California. Within ten years, they had sold over one million motorcycles in the United States alone. Honda’s ethos of creating affordable, easy-to-ride motorcycles shifted the public image of what it meant to be a motorcyclist in the United States and beyond.
Suzuki
Suzuki makes motorcycles, ATVs and several Electric Utility Vehicle varieties of engine. It is best known for compact or “kei” class cars and is the ninth largest car manufacturer in the world. The company also has expanded into home appliances and medical equipment, among other things.
Suzuki has had its ups and downs since its founding in 1937. During the 1920s and 1930s, its fortunes were tied to the textile business, which was a major contributor to Japan’s economy at that time. Then came World War II, and Suzuki was requisitioned for war production like thousands of other companies. It manufactured weaving machines throughout the war, fortunately staying away from the cities that were prime bombing targets.
After the war, Suzuki had trouble getting into domestic automobile markets dominated by Toyota, Honda and Nissan. It turned to export markets, where it had a better chance of succeeding. Developing markets where Japanese technology was in demand were especially promising for Suzuki, which established factories to assemble vehicles from kits shipped from Japan. This strategy allowed Suzuki to skirt import restrictions that would have prevented it from competing in other markets.
In the 1970s, Suzuki introduced its famous off-road Jimny to the world. Its other models included the Cervo, Alto and Swift car models and a line of chinese electric car company small sport-utility vehicles called Samurai and Escudo (known in the U.S. as the Sidekick).
Indian Motorcycles
Indian Motorcycle is the oldest American motorcycle manufacturer, having been in business since 1901. Founded as the Hendee Manufacturing Company, the company changed its name to Indian Motorcycle in 1923. The company was once the largest motorcycle maker in the world, producing popular models such as the Chief and Scout. In addition to being a major player in the motorcycling industry, Indian was also known for its racing and record-breaking efforts. Their factory racers won the 1911 Isle of Man TT, while Oscar Hedstrom set many endurance records on his Indian-built bike.
After losing popularity during the Second World War, the company went bankrupt in 1953. Several companies have tried to revive the brand since, but none were successful until Polaris Industries acquired it in April 2011. Indian Motorcycle has since reinvented itself with new products and designs, while keeping its classic styling and nomenclature.
The brand is currently focused on a niche market, and it is bringing back iconic models such as the Chief and Scout. Its modern versions feature a cast aluminum frame, a 111ci Thunder Stroke V-twin engine, and classic design elements such as deeply skirted fenders. The company has recently been making waves in the industry with its new Chief Classic, Chief Vintage, and Chieftain models. As the modern reckoning with appropriation of Native American culture picks up steam, the company is likely to find itself in the center of the conversation.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
In addition to producing motorcycles, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a technology corporate group that also offers innovative engineering technologies for environmental and recycling plants, infrastructure equipment, industrial robots and more. The company is committed to ‘working as one for the good of the planet.’
KHI is one of the firms that helped propel Japan into the modern industrial world, with early efforts in the automobile, aircraft, power-plant and heavy-machinery industries and shipbuilding. With 19 worldwide plants, the company participates in a vast array of large-scale construction and engineering projects. However, shipbuilding now represents only about 8% of overall sales and continues to decline in importance.
During the depression of the 1930s, the company suffered significant losses, but war and generous government subsidies for shipbuilding soon revived it. Between 1937 and 1945, the firm built 109 warships, including four aircraft carriers and 35 submarines. After the end of WWII, Kawasaki diversified into other products, and the company’s first marine recreational product, the Jet Ski watercraft, made its debut in 1971.
Other products include a wide range of industrial robots and engineered fluid systems. The company’s innovative hydraulic remote control valves are used in construction machinery, mining equipment and other industrial applications. In addition, the company has developed an advanced system that allows the operator to control a robotic work cell from a mobile device.