Business – 60 million Cubs … and me and me and me! – Used HONDA

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60 million Cubs … and me and me and me !

Business - 60 million Cubs ... and me and me and me! - Used HONDA

In August 1958, Honda launched the Super Cub C100, a motorcycle equipped with a durable and economical 50cc 4-stroke engine. Fifty years later, Cub’s production has just reached an impressive number of … 60 million. And it’s not over !

Honda has just proudly announced that at the end of April it had reached 60 million Cubs produced worldwide, an absolute record for the production of a motorized vehicle, two-wheel and four-wheel industries combined. !

By "Cub", we must obviously understand "Honda motorcycles meeting certain conditions including the 4-stroke single cylinder (49 to 125cc), a" low-floor backbone "type frame, a protective apron and wheels over 14 inches ", specifies the world number one.

Because naturally, of – very – many versions have emerged since the birth of the Cub! It all started in August 1958 with the C100 which, unlike its competition equipped in its vast majority with 2-stroke engines, is powered by a 50cc 4-stroke single cylinder, "very economical and enduring", underlines the manufacturer..

Other distinctive signs of the Super Cub C100: its "creative and unique" design, its U-shaped frame in stamped sheet metal making it easier to get on and off vehicles, its three-speed gearbox with centrifugal clutch and its wide apron protecting the pilot from projections and wind.

In just over four months, 24,195 copies passed, then 167,443 the following year (the Cub was already exported to the United States) and 564,365 in 1960! From then on, there was no denying success and the production of Cubs only fell below the 500,000 mark on rare occasions, at the beginning of the 1970s..

The 10 million Cubs (cumulatively) were reached in 1974 and 20 million in 1992. Then the rhythm started again: 1,106,160 Cubs were produced between April 1994 and March 1995 (fiscal year 1994)! At the start of the 2000s, a new step was taken with more than 2 million Cubs produced in 2002 then 3.6 the following two years and 4.8 in 2005.

While the cumulative production exceeds 50 million, Honda produced in 2006 exactly 5,370,285 Cubs, an unmatched record in 2007 and 2008 (more than 4.5 million per year anyway!).

Among the countries most fond of this already legendary two-wheeler, there are of course the so-called "emerging" countries: Malaysia, China, Thailand and, at the top of the list, Vietnam, where the two -wheels are called "Xe Honda" !

Faithful to its "MBGH" formula (Made By Global Honda, read), Honda has numerous production plants around the world (15 in all), the main ones of which are precisely based … in Thailand, Vietnam and China !

In France, on the other hand, sales of Innova ("Wave" in a Thai version not approved for Euro 3) remain confidential: with its 331 units sold, this Cub "latest generation" was in 151st place among the best sales of motorcycles in France in 2007. , behind the V-Strom 1000 and in front of the 690SM (see our top 300).

"It is a slightly" exotic "product which does not necessarily meet the expectations of European customers," explains Valerie Larousse at Honda France: "its retro look and the shifting of gears can put off more than one, despite the fact that he is very nice to drive. His sales do not disappoint us, however: we never communicate about it and he has the career we expected of him ", she assures.

Anyway, in Southeast Asia, China and India, the Cub still has a bright future ahead of it and only perhaps the new low-cost cars (1700 € for the Nano of the Indian Tata !) could eventually steal market share.

But for the time being, Honda can count on the strong image of its best seller, on its well-honed production tool … and its customers on the (incalculable!) Number of spare parts allowing it to be driven at low cost. See you in 2020 for the 100 million? Stay connected !

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