Honda's Surprise Alliance

(NOTE: To see the "update" of 7/25/06, see the comment to this BLOG.)  I just received one of the most interesting and well-done press releases I have ever seen. It came from Honda, and it never mentioned a product. A Ms. Alicia Jones of Honda e-mailed this release to invite me to "a major Honda news conference on Tuesday, July 25, 2006, at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis." Furthermore, she said I can attend in person, via webcast or via teleconference. Talk about hype! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And she never mentioned a product! She never said what it was about at all. Just that it’s "major". Of course we all know—or think we know—what this is all about. It’s certainly no secret that Honda has been flying the HondaJet, a brand new and rather different jet that fits into the Very Light Jet arena. We also know the HondaJet is being shown at Oshkosh. What nobody told us, however, is whether it is simply a proof-of-concept airplane or if will really be produced. My not-so-daring bet is that tomorrow Honda will announce that the HondaJet will, indeed, become a production airplane. I have no idea how old Alicia Jones is, but I’d guess she is nowhere near old enough to know how many times Honda has remade its image in my mind. Does she remember the 1950s when we ugly Americans thought Japan would forever remain a source of cheap trinkets? Or the 1960s, when Honda introduced small motorcycles in the U.S.A? (It’s ad campaign featured ‘happy’ people riding—the text: "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda." Brilliant!) Then, Honda built cars. It was more than I could digest. In one of my brilliant moments, I opined that nobody was gonna buy cars made in Japan. (Don’t laugh. Detroit thought the same thing.) Now, Honda may produce a jet. I’m not laughing this time. (Stay tuned—this BLOG will be updated tomorrow.) We'd love to post your comments. Please click on the comment box at the top.