Honda Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Super Cub Motorcycle
TOKYO, Japan, July 23, 2008– Honda Motor Co., Ltd. held a ceremony, July 21, 2008, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Super Cub sales which began in August 1958. The ceremony for associates was held at Honda’s Kumamoto Factory where Super Cub is produced in Japan.
“The reason we have been able to continue producing and selling Super Cub for 50 years, which is quite a long time, is because of our customers who enjoy using Super Cub every day,” said Takeo Fukui, president & CEO of Honda Motor Co, Ltd. “I would also like to thank Honda associates who have supported the history of Super Cub. Super Cub has continuously advanced to accommodate the needs and preferences of people throughout the world, and cumulative worldwide production of Cub series motorcycles reached the 60 million-unit milestone in April of this year. Moreover, in this year of the 50th anniversary of Super Cub, a new motorcycle plant has been built at this Kumamoto Factory, and the transfer of motorcycle production to the new plant will be completed within this year. I expect Kumamoto Factory to serve as the global leader of Honda’s motorcycle production operations around the world and to continue providing our customers with products that create new value.”
Since the introduction of the first Super Cub C100 model in 1958, Super Cub has been a long-selling product sold in more than 160 countries* to date, and customers around the world enjoy using Super Cub every day. Production of Super Cub in regions outside of Japan began in 1961 in Taiwan, with production based on component parts sets provided from Japan and was expanded to other countries based on Honda’s commitment to “build products close to the customer.” The Honda Cub series is currently being produced at 16 plants in 15 countries around the world.
* Honda’s internal data
Key milestones of Honda Super Cub Series
August 1958
Sales of Super Cub C100 began (air-cooled 4-stroke, single-cylinder OHV engine, 49cc, 4.5 horse power)
Production site: Yamato Plant (later became Saitama Factory Wako Plant)
1959
Exports to the U.S. began
1960
Production at Suzuka Factory began
1961
Cumulative production reached 1 million-unit milestone
Production based on component parts sets began in Taiwan (first production outside of Japan)
1964
Sales of Super Cub C65 (the first OHC engine) began
1966
Sales of Super Cub C50 (OHC engine) began
1967
Cumulative production reached 5 million-unit milestone
1974
Cumulative production reached 10 million-unit milestone
1983
Fuel consumption of 180km/liter (30km/h constant-speed test value) achieved (Super Cub 50 Super Custom)
1988
Sales of Press Cub began
1991
Production was transferred to Kumamoto Factory
1992
Cumulative production reached 20 million-unit milestone
1997
Sales of Little Cub began
2005
Cumulative production reached 50 million-unit milestone
2007
An electronically-controlled fuel injection system, Honda’s PGM-FI, was installed on Super Cub 50, Press Cub 50 and Little Cub.
2008
Cumulative production reached 60 million-unit milestone (April)
