Honda Australia celebrates four decades

Honda Australia celebrated its 40th birthday on February 4, with the corporate heavyweight coming a long way from its humble beginnings in a two-bedroom flat in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.

Honda Australia's first General Manager, Hidehiko Shiomi, set-up the fledgling business and represented half of the initial workforce. His colleague at this time was David Morwood.

It took less than a year for Honda to outgrow the South Yarra flat and, by the end of 1969, Honda had moved to a warehouse complex in Abbotsford.

There are now over 500 people employed by Honda in Australia, including the motorcycle, power equipment and marine company (Honda MPE), which was formed in 1991, and the automotive division. Both headquarters are in Melbourne, with Stuart Strickland the boss at MPE.

Honda's Australian business was primarily based on motorcycles for the first 10 years, with power equipment and vehicles being added to the corporate line-up when private distributors handed distribution rights back to Honda Australia.

The year 1969 was a big one in history, and the establishment of Honda Australia was joined by:

- Neil Armstrong walking on the moon
- The start of Sesame Street on television
- Australia's Rod Laver winning the tennis grand slam;
- The death of Ho Chi Minh;
- The start of service for the Boeing 747;
- The development of a rubella vaccine; and
- The birth of Steffi Graf.

And a three-bedroom house cost $26,000 in America. About the same as today…