Whereas most other automakers are still in the development stage with their
environmentally friendly concept cars, already has one hybrid on the market and
will introduce two new ones next year including a new hybrid sports car. Next to that
Honda has recently launched the first commercially available hydrogen-powered car
the FCX Clarity. We spoke with Mr. Leo Jegen, Manager Public Relations at
Honda’s Dutch branch, about Honda’s key strengths, and about the impact he
believes the new launches will have on Honda sales in the Netherlands.
Mr. Jegen has been with Honda for 25
years now. He tells that the Japanese
company has had a full subsidiary
in the Netherlands for some 30 years.
The Honda brand is particularly strong
in the Dutch motorcycle market:
just like in the rest of Europe, Honda
motorcycles including the CBR1000RR
and CBF600 are very popular indeed,
and have been since Honda first
started to export to the continent in
the 50-ties. The European automotive
market has proved more of a challenge
for Honda. In the Netherlands,
specifically, Honda ranks as the 19th
best sold carmake. The group’s
corporate strategy aims for further
business expansion in Europe,
promoting product development that
meets regional needs through a
broad-based local network of company
facilities and R&D offices. In
accordance with Honda’s global
manufacturing policy, the company
notably manufactures the Civic Type R
(CVR) in Europe, for global exports.
Mr. Jegen expects that Honda will
continue to strengthen its position in
the European market building on
the company’s legacy of innovation.
“The Honda founder was a genius,”
he says. “Thanks to him, the Honda name is now synonymous for technological
excellence.”
Honda founder Soichiro Honda was
born in Japan, in 1906. His father
owned a blacksmith’s shop and repaired
bicycles as a sideline. As a teenager, he
was apprenticed to a car repair shop in
Tokyo, but he soon embarked on a
number of his own projects, displaying
an exceptional gift in technical
innovation. He then studied metallurgy,
and started a business producing engine
parts. After the devastation of World
War II, Mr. Honda revived his business
by fitting war surplus engines to bicycles.
The intuitive and innovative former
mechanic concentrated on designing
and manufacturing products which
appealed to him - starting with
motorcycles. In 1948, the company
which was to become a global giant
took root as Japan’s post-war economy
took its first, bold steps towards expansion. A partner, Mr. Takeo
Fujisawa, looked after the commercial
side of the new enterprise, leaving Mr.
Honda free to design and test. In those
early days, they worked in harmony out
of a tiny rented factory, often going for
months without engaging in serious
business discussion, each having total
faith in the other’s ability to handle his
own domain. They worked like this for
nearly four decades, even when the
Honda company had established itself
as a major multi-national business, until
both retired from active participation in
the company in 1973. Honda has since
continued to grow and today is the
world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer
and one of the leading automakers.
With a global network of 507
subsidiaries and affiliates, The Japanbased
company develops, manufactures
and markets a wide variety of products,
ranging from small general-purpose
engines and scooters to specialty
sports cars.
With its reputation for technological
excellence, Honda today also sets the
trend for environmentally friendly
automotive technology. “The company
started developing its first hybrid vehicle
in the 19980s,” adds Mr. Jegen. “Honda
today believes that hydrogen-powered
cars are the future, but the hybrid car in
tunnel for a more spacious interior and
an elegant, low-riding sedan form.
Cruising range has been extended 30%
to 620km. The Japan model also
features climate-controlled seats in the
rear as well as in the front. The
combined sales plan for Japan and US
calls for a few dozen units a year and
about 200 units within three years.
Interesting to note in that regard is that
Honda’s marketing and PR efforts
around the FCX Clarity seem to want to
emphasise that it’s not ‘just’ a clear car,
but also a ‘cool’ car. Announcing the
first US sales of the FCX Clarity in June
of this year, the company said its first
customers include a number of
Hollywood celebs such as film producer
Ron Yerxa and actress Jamie Lee Curtis.
Meanwhile Honda has also annoucned
that marketing of the Honda CR-Z, a
lightweight sports hybrid concept
vehicle has started. The CR-Z is a
next-generation lightweight sports
car concept equipped with Honda’s
original gas-electric hybrid system that
achieves both clean performance and a
high level of torque. The CR-Z stands
for ‘Compact Renaissance Zero’ - an
expression intended to capture the idea
of a renaissance in the design of
compact cars that begins anew from
fundamentals. The design research
the meantime is a clean alternative for
petrol and diesel cars.” ‘The future’ is not
that far away it seems: Honda unveiled
the Japan model of its FCX Clarity, next
generation hydrogen powered fuel cell
vehicle in July of this year, and expects
to lease out FCX Clarity cars in Japan
later this year. The FCX Clarity is
propelled by an electric motor that runs
on electricity generated in the fuel cell;
the vehicle’s only emission is water, and
its fuel efficiency is three times that of a
modern gasoline-powered automobile.
Based on the entirely-new Honda V Flow
fuel cell platform, and powered by a
highly compact, efficient and powerful
new Honda V Flow fuel cell stack, the
FCX Clarity marks the significant
progress Honda continues to make in
advancing the real-world performance
and appeal of the fuel cell car. The FCX
Clarity offers not only the ultimate in
environmental responsibility but also
real-world performance and appeal. The
new lightweight, compact Honda V Flow
fuel cell stack offers significantly
enhanced performance, with an output
of 100kW (compared to 86kW in the
conventional FC Stack), as well as
enhanced cold climate performance that
enables it to start in temperatures as
low as -30°C. The lightweight and
compact design of the FC Stack allows it
to be arranged in the vehicle’s center model of a lightweight hybrid sports
car features advanced technologies
that deliver elevated driving
performance while reducing the
vehicle’s environmental footprint.
Designed to be futuristic and dynamic,
the CR-Z combines powerful performance
in a compact form with a futuristic
image. For its frontal view, an over-sized
grill with a high-performance look is
offset by openings on each side that
lighten the overall feel. In the rear, tubeshaped
rear combination lamps create a
powerful presence. Design details
emphasizing the CR-Z’s advanced image
include door mirrors that provide high
visibility in a stylish form, LED headlights
that convey a sharp impression, and
jaunty fin-shaped sub-lights. Large
19-inch wheels suggest dynamic driving
performance. The key words for the
CR-Z’s interior design are ‘Hi-tech and
Sporty’. The goal was to create an allnew
sporty interior that fuses the
liberating feel of airy spaciousness with
an advanced interface that brings out
the fun of driving. Mesh material on a
simple framework construction is used
throughout the interior to convey a light,
sophisticated image. In the cockpit, the
meter unit conveys the image of
advanced technology ensconced in a
piece of glass artwork, offering quick
recognition and a futuristic and
exhilarating appearance.
Mr. Jegen expects the introduction of
these new ‘green’ cars to considerably
boost car sales in the Netherlands. The
company already enjoys hybrid sales
with the hybrid Honda Civic, which has
been on the market for a number of
years now. The success of this particular
car has been driven particularly by the
lease market. Lease car drivers in the
Netherlands are quite heavily taxed in
the Netherlands; depending on the
type of car, the added tax rate can
amount to 25%. For exceptionally
environmentally friendly cars, a group
in which only a few cars including
Honda hybrids are categories, this
percentage amounts to only 14%.
“They may not be particularly attracted
to the design of the Honda Civic, but
the Dutch are a pragmatic people,”
laughs Mr. Jegen. “If you tell them they
can save up to Euro 4,000 a year with
a hybrid car, they don’t find it that
hard to decide what type of lease car
they want to drive.” The new hybrid
sports car, adds Mr. Jegen, should also
attract people for whom the design
appeal of the car is of crucial
importance. “Above all though, the
selling point of all Honda’s is their
engineering excellence. In the hybrid
car space, for example, only Honda
offers a system where petrol engine and
electric engine work together and easily
switches from petrol to electric and vice
versa. That’s all this company wants to
do really: make innovative cars at
the cutting edge of engineering
technology. After half a decade of world
leadership in engine technology, we
now also lead in hybrid and hydrogenpowered
technology. Everybody else
will just have to follow.”
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