Look how you have grown up

Honda was my first car.  A brand new 1976 Honda Civic, 2dr hatchback, 5spd manual.  I painted the hood flat black cuz I thought that was cool - hey I was seventeen!! But of course, I added, huge driving lights up front.  That's cool, right?  no?  Well reality was they didn't do much for keeping air flow over the radiator, amazing how that works huh?  I thrashed that car for more than 4 years and 170,000 miles.  It survived me, even my imitation of Mario Andretti rallying on gravel.


The Honda car company has been growing from before that time, and ever since.  I observe the eruption of Hyundai onto the scene and watch it's progression and evolution. Hyundai is making a name for itself with the new Genesis Sedan and Coupe.   Honda was that upstart not that long ago.  Fast forward to today, Toyota outsold GM last year for the first time to become #1.  Ironic that GM is now only emerging from bankruptcy amid executive shuffles.  Also today, we have a report that Honda is poised to supplant Chrysler as #4.  And this is the company that decided that when building their own microjet, they would also build their own jet engine.  What's next for Honda?  A truly diverse and exceptional global powerhouse.

REPORT: Honda to supplant Chrysler as America's 4th largest auto retailer

by Chris Shunk (RSS feed) on Dec 7th, 2009 at 8:58AM

Throughout most of the history of the US auto industry, the Detroit Three sat atop of the sales charts withGeneral Motors claiming first, Ford in second and Chrysler placing third. In the past few years Toyota has clawed its way past Chrysler and then Ford, and now it appears that Honda too has now passed the Pentastar. Barring some miraculous (and we mean truly outstanding) development, Honda will officially overcome Chrysler to become the fourth largest automaker in the States. Honda holds a rather insurmountable 200,000 unit cushion against its competition from Auburn Hills, MI -- more vehicles than any automaker sold during the month of November. Speaking of November, Chrysler was the only major automaker to see a sales decline, down 18.5 percent with a mere 65,000 units sold. Honda fared better with over 74,000 products sold.

While Honda's victory on the sales charts is indisputable, neither automaker is making a big deal about it. A Honda exec reportedly told Automotive News that it only worries about it internal sales numbers and doesn't focus on ranks. Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham told AN that the company is on the right track to improve its standing, adding, "We are taking the steps that are necessary to have a good foundation and to build consumer confidence." Graham also said that the company is expecting better results in the future on account of its increased advertising spending. If Chrysler doesn't reverse its sales slide, the next automaker to pass team Pentastar could be Nissan -- the Japanese automaker finished only 7,000 units behind Chrysler in November.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]