How many powered two-wheelers would you say Honda has built since 1949, when Soichiro put the first Dream into production? A few million? It’s actually 500 million – half a billion – an astonishing figure which underlines Honda’s continuing dominance of the world motorcycle market – it grabbed a 40% share of global sales in 2024.

But the real story here isn’t that Honda is big (we all knew that) but that its 500 millionth machine was a Activa 125 scooter, which rolled off the production line in Gujarat, India. It was no coincidence that Honda chose to celebrate its 500 millionth bike in India rather than Japan.
The company has four factories on the sub-continent, with a combined capacity of over 6 million bikes a year, all the better to supply the massive markets across South Asia and South America for small capacity bikes and scooters. Not only do these markets dwarf those of Europe and North America, but India is a far cheaper place to build bikes than Japan. In fact, at the 500 million ceremony, Minoru Kato, Honda’s Chief Officer of Motorcycles, told MCN that, “We have an expectation for the Indian market and that is for India to be an export hub for the worldwide market.” In other words, we will see more Indian-made Hondas on sale in Europe, at very competitive prices to meet the challenge of bigger bikes from China. It’s thought that a 500cc naked will be included.

Jim Freeman, chair at the BMF said, “I believe ‘Honda’ is a synonym for ‘motorbike’ in parts of the world, no wonder! As someone who started riding on Honda step-thru Cubs, I won’t hear a word against them, even my mum thought they were OK, I have the pictures to prove it. Looking back I’ve owned at least 10, not all were brilliant, but some certainly were. ”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Honda UK