Honda Cars & Trucks

Beginning in the immediate aftermath of World War II, the Honda Motor Company sought to fill a desperate need for affordable and reliable 2-wheeled transportation. And within fifteen years Honda was well on its way to reinventing the global motorcycle industry and identity. Launched in the U.S. with 'you meet the nicest people on a Honda' messaging, the ad campaign neutralized the negative images of motorcycles and their riders. Honda followed its successful launch of motorcycles with motorcycle competition, and planted the seed for Honda passenger cars with a successful entry into Formula One. Honda's first car for sale in the U.S. was the 600, propelled - after a fashion - by a two-cylinder, 600cc aircooled powerplant powering the front wheels. That was followed by the launch of the Civic, and while Honda management couldn't have predicted the OPEC crisis that same year, a front-wheel drive compact with high quality and an affordable price was just what the U.S. market ordered.

Today, Honda offers an essentially complete lineup of competent sedans, practical crossovers and a still-unconventional pickup, its new Ridgeline. The least expensive Honda is a toss-up between a base Fit and its newish crossover, the HR-V. The redesigned Civic is wildly popular, and the Accord is invariably the best-selling sedan in the marketplace, but on the Honda showroom the CR-V - due for a redesign in 2017 - commands comparable sales. The fun-to-drive descriptive is affixed to performance variants of the new Civic hatch, while 'most expensive' would be found on a heavily optioned Pilot crossover or Odyssey minivan.