Honda ' s ambitious wish list
Honda continues its inexorable march into a brave new future with a slew of corporate initiatives including , our favourite , a plan to go into the airborne mobility business ! While solidifying its existing businesses as the foundation of the company , and leveraging core competencies , Honda says it is " thoroughly committed to contributing to the realisation of a society with zero environmental impact and zero traffic collisions and also to new initiatives that enable Honda to take on challenges in new areas ". " In addition to research on advanced environmental and safety technologies , Honda R & D Co ., Ltd ., which takes a lead role in Honda ' s technology research and development , is pursuing outside-thebox research on technologies that will bring about new value for people by expanding the potential of mobility into the 3rd dimension , then the 4th dimension - which defies the constraints of time and space , and ultimately into outer space . " These new initiatives include an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft ( eVTOL ), an avatar robot with the goal of expanding the range of human ability , and a new challenge in the field of outer space . " Honda eVTOL aircraft : will make mobility in the skies more accessible for people and leverage our electrification technologies for its gas turbine hybrid power unit . Adoption of the hybrid power unit enables the extension of range , which will enable Honda eVTOL to provide inter-city ( city-to-city ) transportation , where the market size is expected to grow in the future . Honda will create a new ' mobility ecosystem ' featuring Honda eVTOL at its core , connected with mobility products on the ground ". Second , " Honda will develop an avatar robot with the goal to expand the range of human ability virtually without the constraints of time and place / space . The Honda Avatar Robot will be equipped with a multi-fingered hand , an application of Honda robotics
The Honda eVTOL concept for a new city-to-city mobility ecosystem . technologies , and Honda ' s original AIsupported remote control function . With a view to putting the Honda Avatar Robot into practical use in the 2030s , Honda is pursuing
Keiji Ohtsu , President and Representative Director of Honda R & D Co ., Ltd .
development with a goal to conduct technology demonstration testing by March 2024 . " Honda has been continuously working on robotics research , including the research and development of its bi-pedal robot ASIMO . As a part of next-generation Honda robotics , Honda is pursuing development for the practical applications of Honda ' s original avatar robot to expand the range of human ability - an avatar robot can act as a second self of the user , that the user can perform tasks and experience things without being there in person , including the realistic sense of handling objects remotely ."
Kawasaki unit sales up
For the three months ended June 30 , 2021 ( the first quarter of its 2021 / 2022 financial year ), Kawasaki reported wholesale unit sales for its Motorcycle & Engine business division as being up by + 31.25 % in Europe at 21,000 units ( compared to 16,000 for the Covid impacted 2020 period ). Unit sales to all ' developed markets ' were + 89.66 % for the period at 55,000 units in total , compared to 29,000 units for the same period in 2020 . All of Kawasaki ' s developed markets were up for the quarter . Sales in the United States were up by over 230 % at 20,000 units , compared to just 6,000 for the same period in 2020 . Emerging market unit sales were up by + 144 % at 61,000 units , with the Philippines its largest such market (+ 121 % at 31,000 units for the period ). Developed market net sales revenue was 46.6bn yen compared to
24.7bn yen for the year-ago period ( a + 88.66 % improvement ). Unit sales translated to net sales revenue of 113.5bn yen for the quarter (+ 54.5 % over the 58.9bn yen recorded for the corresponding period in 2020 , for an operating profit of 14 . 8bn yen ( a substantial improvement over the -5.9bn yen loss incurred for the year-ago period ).
New company and major investments
Kawasaki parent company KHI has announced a new company within the KHI Group , investment in products and upscaled global manufacturing abilities . Hiroshi Ito , President of the Motorcycle & Engine Company at Kawasaki Heavy Industries , says the headline news is of a US $ 265m (€ 224m ) investment to increase production capacity for the
USA and rest of world markets over the next five years . " This will include expansion of the existing factory in Nebraska and the creation of a new manufacturing facility in Mexico , which will create thousands of more jobs in the US and Mexico . " Kawasaki is also increasing investments in new product development , especially in the growing MULE , ATV and JetSki markets , as well as innovative new
Third , Honda says it will " take on the challenges in the field of space technology , including building a circulative renewable energy system on the lunar surface by leveraging Honda fuel cell technologies and high differential pressure water electrolysis technologies , applying Honda ' s multifingered robotic hand , AI-supported remote control function , and highlyresponsive torque control technologies to remotely-controlled robots which will perform tasks on the lunar surface . " The proposal by young Honda engineers is to research and develop a small , reusable rocket by applying Honda ' s core technologies such as combustion , fluid , control and guidance technologies . Honda views the field of space technologies as a place to take on new challenges . Keiji Ohtsu , President and Representative Director of Honda R & D Co ., Ltd ., is quoted as saying : " All of the initiatives we have announced are for the challenges Honda takes on in new areas , but the underlying passion of Honda to use our technology to make people ' s lives more enjoyable remains unchanged . " Ever since the company ' s founding , the wellspring of Honda ' s challenges has always been the people at Honda who generate original technologies and ideas . Through the creation of new mobility , Honda will continue striving to change the value people place on mobility and make positive changes to our society ."
street motorcycles , our new electric , hybrid and hydrogen power source projects and off-road motorcycles ". Kawasaki had already announced that it will change its organisation significantly " in order to enable agile action in the rapidly changing world ". At the beginning of October 2021 , Kawasaki ' s worldwide powersports - covering motorcycles , JetSki personal watercraft and recreational vehicles and its general purpose engine businesses - will become an independent company to be known as ' Kawasaki Motors , Ltd ' with Mr . Ito as its first President and CEO .
32 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2021