Comame Mini-Tiller Series Became a Big Hit
As the 1970s arrived, farmers’ demands became more diverse, requiring tillers that were suited to the area being cultivated and the type of work being done. In the second half of the 1970s, as Japan was recovering from the oil crisis, there were signs that people were seeking for a more relaxed lifestyle, and in urban areas, cultivating small vegetable gardens on idle farmland was becoming a popular hobby.
In response to these societal changes, Honda took on the challenge of creating a compact tiller which was an “entry-level machine for amateur and hobby gardeners.” Aiming to attract new users, mainly those who used to till the soil using plows and hoes, Honda developed the Comame F200 as an entry-level machine for hobby gardeners, yet with enough capacity to be used in serious farming operations and launched it in 1980. Its innovative design, placing the engine and tillage claws vertically so that anyone could easily handle it, realized a surprisingly compact size.
Comame F200
Product brochure at the time of the market launch
Once launched, Comame began selling more to farmers than to the home garden enthusiasts it targeted. One of the main reasons for this was that elderly women farmers were using it to plow and weed small fields behind their homes. To promote the fact that even women could easily use Comame, female staff at dealerships actively participated in sales promotion activities. The number of such female sales reps, nicknamed “Comame ladies,” increased all over Japan. Through their enthusiastic product demonstrations targeting women, their sales success rate reached almost 100%. In only two years and seven months after its market launch, Comame sales in Japan reached100,000 units, which was an astounding figure in the tiller market, where a single model was considered a hit product if it would sell 5,000 units per year.
Since then, the Comame series has been continuously improved and grown into a long-selling series, with cumulative sales topping 500,000 units by 2020.
Product posters (1984). A separate poster was designed to visualize different tasks the Comame could support.
Changes in Product Distribution: Cultivating Home
Improvement Retail Stores as a New Sales Channel
Since the start of its power products business, Honda had been expanding its sales network by cultivating retailers for a wide range of products, from agricultural machinery, to construction machinery, farming and utility vehicles, disaster-preparedness products, recreational products, gardening materials, and marine products. On the other hand, after the launch of the E300 generator, Honda began selling its power products through a machine tool wholesaler in 1966.
As people’s lives became more enjoyable, thanks to the rapid economic growth in Japan, lifestyles diversified, and home gardening and DIY (Do It Yourself) became popular. Japan’s first home improvement store, named Doit, was established in Yono City, Saitama Prefecture, in 1972. A decade later, the number of such home improvement stores had grown rapidly from 28 across Japan in 1973 to 1,050 by 1982.
At the time, demand for handy and portable generators had increased in line with the expansion of generator uses from business uses to disaster preparedness and recreational uses, while a boom in home gardening led to strong sales of compact tillers. Home improvement stores were becoming a major new sales channel for generators, tillers, and other compact machinery, as well as lawn mowers.
However, the way power products were sold at home improvement stores was significantly different from that of specialty stores. At home improvement stores, customers selected products by themselves, similar to buying essential household items at general stores, where store clerks typically did not explain product details.
When Honda first started doing business with home improvement stores, few clerks were familiar with Honda products. This caused problems such as the store removing the depth bar of Comame, which adjusts tilling depth, mistaking it for a display stand, and customers who could not get support to set up Comame for use.
Honda strengthened its efforts to cultivate the home improvement store sales channel by adding the assignment of staff who could explain Honda products and provision of after-sales service as conditions of a business contract. Honda also proactively provided training to store sales and service staff. Some home improvement stores set up an area within the store that replicated a plot of farmland where customers could test out the equipment before purchasing, which was very effective for sales as many potential customers wanted to try out the tillers and other equipment.
In 1987, Honda launched the HIPPO series of generators to be sold exclusively at home improvement stores. Starting with this generator series, home improvement stores throughout Japan began displaying Honda power products, quickly gaining popularity among individual customers. Honda dramatically increased generator sales and solidified its market leader position by mid-1980s.
HIPPO
Powering Tillers and Generators with Home-use Gas Canisters
Pianta FV200 gas-powered mini-tiller
ENEPO EU9iGB gas-powered generator
Power products were mainly powered by engines, but gasoline is difficult to handle and store by individual customers, including the compliance with legal restrictions. To address this problem, Honda developed engines powered by home-use gas canisters, which are easy for the customer to purchase and store.
In 2009, Honda began sales of the Pianta FV200 mini-tiller, which could run for about one hour on a single home-use butane gas canister. The Pianta featured a compact design that made it easy for the customer to load it in the trunk of a passenger car.
It was also equipped with handlebars that could be folded without using tools, a carry box, and a wheel that enabled the customer to push it for easy portability. The convenience of using easy-to-handle gas canisters attracted the attention of home gardeners, and the Pianta became a hit, selling 10,000 units within one year of its market introduction.
Pianta FV200 gas-powered mini-tiller
Foldable handlebar saves storage space
Built-in wheel enables easy portability
In 2010, Honda introduced the ENEPO EU9iGB portable generator as the second power product to be powered by home-use gas canisters. It was a revolutionary product with a fold-down handle and large casters for easy portability and compact storage, and proprietary Honda technology enabled it to start up at temperatures as low as 5°C.
ENEPO EU9iGB gas-powered generator
Image of carrying the EU9iGB with one hand
Image of transporting the EU9iGB
Establishing Honda Power Products Japan
The Japanese power products market was predicted to shrink in the future due to the declining population, the aging population in areas where tillers and snow throwers are needed, and a decrease in the number of people working in agriculture. Meanwhile, the growth of home improvement stores had shifted from mainstream sales from local power products dealers to high volume retailers, and with widespread use of the internet, online sales were also gradually increasing. This diversification of the power products market demanded new strategies that would maintain and strengthen Honda power products business in Japan.
Japanese customers are extremely demanding in terms of product quality and performance. As with the case of Honda snow thrower models, if Honda could create a product that sells well in Japan, it would eventually grow into a global product that brings joy to customers around the world. For Honda, Japan has been a very important market as a testing ground for creating new products and services.
In 2017, Honda transferred field sales and service operations for snow throwers, generators, agricultural machinery, and other power products from the Power Products Sales Division of Regional Operations (Japan) to a new company, Honda Power Products Japan Co., Ltd. (HPJ)*2 to establish a new structure for its power products business. By becoming an organization closer to its customers, instead of one function of Honda Operations in Japan, HPJ aimed to strengthen its sales and services and build a structure that enabled it to respond quickly and flexibly to customer needs.
By establishing a separate subsidiary that specializes in power products sales and service, some changes were brought about.
HPJ began offering more training opportunities for dealers to strengthen their product knowledge, and HPJ also enhanced its systems to provide more product information directly to sales staff of home improvement stores.
In the area of managing and educating dealerships such as home improvement stores, HPJ began placing more emphasis on understanding the individuality and capabilities of each store and identifying stores capable of providing excellent after-sales services, explaining the products in depth, and offering outstanding customer services. With such stores, HPJ has been building a sales network where customers can purchase Honda power products with complete confidence. In addition, HPJ has also strengthened its support activities for dealers other than home improvement stores, enabling them to conduct finely tuned sales and service activities, which has further strengthened the bond between HJS and its dealers.
Katsuhisa Okuda, who was involved in conceptualizing the establishment of HPJ as the Chief Operating Officer for the Life Creation Operation (now Motorcycle and Power Products Operations), later said: “The major purpose of establishing HPJ, a compact operation with a few dozen associates, was to create a business environment that was close to customers and where we could develop experts in the power products industry,”
When HPJ was established, Okuda told its associates: “Since you are working much closer with our customers, I am expecting you to quickly identify market trends, and think and implement sales and service activities suitable for our customers. In the future, at the forefront of the global power products market, let’s take on the challenge of creating a new business model which fulfills customer needs not only with our products but also with experiences customers get through the use our products.”
Six years after the establishment of the new company, HPJ is not only expected to solidify Honda power products business in Japan, but also to prepare Honda for new growth.
- From 2022, the Power Products Business Unit of Honda Motor has been in charge of general-purpose engine and outboard engine business.
Image of HPJ operations
What Lies Beyond After Spreading the Joy of Helping People
Honda generators are also contributing to society behind the scenes. For example, Honda generators are being adopted to serve as backup power sources for traffic signals at major intersections throughout Japan in the event of a power outage. Generators are extremely important when the power supply from the grid is disrupted during the time of disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Honda generators have been delivered to numerous local governments and warehouses for disaster preparedness stockpiles and have earned the public trust as a key item for disaster preparedness.
Furthermore, especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, awareness of disaster preparedness rose throughout Japan, and various types of generators have been stockpiled in municipalities across the country in the case of a disaster.
Honda power products business is built on the foundation of Mr. Soichiro Honda’s desire to help people. Helping people in agriculture and fisheries was not only about helping people who actually use Honda products in those industries, but also about helping the entire nation by contributing to the primary industries involved in food production. Beyond helping customers who use various Honda power products including generators, Honda is helping people’s daily lives and society as a whole.
Honda General-Purpose Engines Spread
Throughout the World
Currently, Honda is supplying approximately 250,000 engines*3 annually to OEMs in Japan, and approximately 70% of the power products produced by OEMs with Honda general-purpose engine are exported from Japan. Together with Honda power products, Honda general-purpose engines are contributing to spreading the joy of helping people throughout the world.
- Honda internal research (based on the FY2022 sales results)
Creating New Value Toward Realizing
a Carbon Neutral Society
As Honda strives to use its outstanding technologies to help more people, being environmentally-responsible is another universal theme Honda pursues. The power products business is no exception.
Honda is creating a number of new technologies in this new era where, in addition to internal combustion engines, electric power units are made available as an power unit option for power products to respond to society’s demand for decarbonization.
In 2021, Honda launched the eGX electric power unit, which features a detachable lithium-ion battery pack and a high-power motor to play the same role as a conventional gasoline-powered general-purpose engine. The eGX achieves both zero emissions and high power and features a high level of compatibility with Honda GX Series engines, enabling OEMs to switch over to eGX.
The Power Exporter 9000, which takes out electricity from electric vehicles (EVs) and externally outputs it to power various electric devices, creates new value of EVs “as a "power source on wheels."
Even when gasoline power is replaced by electricity, Honda power products business will continue to pursue the joy of helping people and society and further advance while creating new value for more people.
