Honda Philippines, Inc. (HPI) marks a once-in-a-lifetime milestone as it celebrates its 50th year of providing high-quality, innovative, and reliable motorcycles to bring the joy of mobility and comfort to every Filipino.
To kick off the anniversary celebration, HPI introduced its newly-appointed and first female president, Sayaka Arai, to guests and stakeholders at an event in HPI Plant located in Tanauan City, Batangas. Arai san also led the production line roll-off ceremony of HPI’s commemorative model.
special models.
Established as Mariwasa-Honda in 1973 in the Philippines, the company started producing motorbikes with an annual production of 4,700 units. In 1976, the company created the TM110 model for the tricycle market, followed by the underbone motorcycle Honda C70 and on and off-road motorbikes XL125 models in 1977.
HPI then released the powerful TM125 in 1979, the TM110S model in 1980, and the first TMX155 for heavy-duty tricycle use in 1981 pioneering the four-stroke air cooled engine in the country.
In 1983, Honda Motor Co. Ltd took majority ownership which gave birth to Honda Philippines, Inc. The company then launched the XL125SR model to the Philippine market.
From there, HPI continued the tradition of bringing new motorcycles to deliver mobility and comfort to Filipinos. Among the products introduced were the C70DD Econopower in 1984 and the trendy PF50 in 1989.
In February 2005, HPI produced its 1 millionth motorcycle unit and held a groundbreaking ceremony in its new Batangas plant, a factory that would then become the country’s largest motorcycle manufacturing plant. A year later, HPI made the big move from Parañaque to the new and more advanced manufacturing facility in Batangas. In 2007, the XRM125 was introduced.
By 2008, the company produced a total of 2 million motorcycles and successfully released the XRM RS125 model. This was followed by Honda BeAT and Wave Dash 110 in 2009 and the CB110 in 2010.
In 2011, the company unveiled the CBR150R and Scoopy models and achieved an accumulated production of 3 million motorcycles. HPI then introduced the TMX Supremo motorcycle the following year. To mark its 40th anniversary in 2013, the company achieved a total production of 4 million units, later growing to 5 million in 2016.
“HPI has reached these milestones with the help of everyone involved in the company and, more importantly, with the unwavering support of the Filipino public. It is an honor for us to provide Filipinos with mobility, comfort, and even more job opportunities through our motorcycles. Rest assured that we will aim to continue improving our customers’ daily lives by enabling them to experience Honda’s innovations found in every product and service that exceed their expectations,” added Arai san.
