Providing Products for Work and Daily Life

The power products business, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2023, has been driven by the desire to “make people’s lives a little easier and richer, and contribute to their daily lives through technology.” This mission has led to the supply of general-purpose engines, which serve as power sources for various types of machinery, to numerous equipment manufacturers. Additionally, Honda has developed, manufactured, and sold its own products, including generators, snow blowers, lawn mowers, tillers, and outboard motors.
To bring joy to people’s lives and work through useful products, Honda is expanding its business potential by not only continuing to offer traditional ICE products but also by increasing its presence in the electric business sector. This includes the development of electric products and portable batteries, aiming to “provide new value in mobility and daily life.”

Toward Realizing a Work That Is “Kinder to Both People and the Planet”

In the construction machinery and industrial machinery sectors, the movement towards carbon neutrality, driven by both public and private sectors, is accelerating, and the demand for environmentally friendly products is increasing. Honda is playing a key role in accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral society by expanding its lineup of electric products for corporate customers in these sectors, including construction and industrial machinery manufacturers.
In the garden sector, the electrification of small, short-duration products, such as residential lawn mowers, is accelerating. Additionally, with increasing environmental regulations, there is growing demand for electrification of larger products such as riding lawn mowers used by landscaping professionals. There is an expectation for electric products that meet the performance and operating time requirements of professional workers.

Enriching Lives through Technology, Sustaining Prosperity and Delight

The power products business has developed a range of products that blend into people’s lives and support daily living. Going forward, we will continue to offer products and services with excellent quality and reliability, leveraging Honda’s strengths while considering regional characteristics and changing market needs.
In the core power unit business, we will pursue improvements in environmental performance and ongoing evolution of ICE products. In the construction machinery industry, where Honda has a significant market share in ICE sales, we will provide the electric power unit “eGX” and provide support services for their installation into finished machines for corporate customers. By strengthening the sales and service infrastructure, we will lead the global electrification of small construction machinery. In the garden sector, we will provide high-quality equipment and services to landscaping professionals in the United States, contributing to solving labor shortages and addressing challenges in the field.

Direction of Electrification Business Strategy

The power products business will contribute to solving social issues such as labor shortages by providing new value unique to Honda, including not only electrification but also automation of machinery, thereby improving both the “quality of work” and “quality of life.”
We will position the power unit and garden sectors as key domains for electrification and strengthen our efforts to enhance product capabilities, thereby leading the industry in this transformation. Additionally, leveraging Honda’s strength in diverse mobility, we will enhance development and cost competitiveness by sharing core parts necessary for electrification with the motorcycle business, thus reducing costs and maximizing synergies across business areas.

Power Unit Sector

In addition to our existing B2B customers developed through our core business of general-purpose engines, Honda will actively expand the deployment of eGX in areas expected to electrify. To support this, we will strengthen collaboration with power unit suppliers, focusing on Japan and Europe.
In Japan, particularly, our sales and development departments collaborate closely to support installation of the eGX with our customers. By horizontally expanding these activities to other regions, we aim to further increase the adoption of the eGX. To meet our customers’ diverse needs more precisely, we will prepare a wide range of variations within the eGX series.

Garden Sector

In the U.S. market, Honda will offer a full lineup of electric products for landscaping professionals, aiming to expand the adoption of electric equipment among professional customers. To achieve this, we have moved to the mass production preparation phase for large models such as electric riding lawn mowers and robotic lawn mowers, which were showcased as prototypes at North American trade shows.
Since 2012, we have been selling robotic lawn mowers primarily in the European market. These mowers are positioned as one of the solutions to social issues such as aging populations and labor shortages. We will continue to implement ongoing technological advancements and sales strategies to address these challenges.
Furthermore, for small electric products such as push lawn mowers and brush cutters, we will leverage external partnerships to accelerate electrification through efficient development and production schemes. We will also expand the framework of these collaborations to target additional customer acquisition.

Marine Sector

Starting with the introduction of environmentally friendly outboard motors based on the belief of Honda’s founder, Soichiro Honda, “watercraft should not pollute the water,” the marine business continues to challenge electrification. In 2023, we conducted a demonstration experiment with a small 4 kW electric motor, which has proven performance in electric motorcycles, and a “Honda Mobile Power Pack e:” on the Matsue Castle “Horikawa Sightseeing Boat” in Matsue City. This experiment will help us explore the expansion of our marine business and promote verification of marine product electrification in domestic and international markets.

Enhancing Adaptability to Environmental Shifts

To flexibly address the diverse needs across countries and regions, we will produce and supplement our main products, the general-purpose engines, in Thailand, China, and India, while ensuring a balanced supply to demand areas. We will also assess the optimal timing for market introduction of our products. Additionally, by leveraging synergies with our motorcycle business, we will advance cost reduction through parts sharing and optimization of production and procurement systems, while effectively utilizing external resources to secure development resources and enhance procurement and production capabilities, thus pursuing efficient operations in development and production.