Honda Motor Co., Ltd has announced today that Honda's cumulative worldwide Power Equipment production reached the 100 million-unit*1 milestone during 2011.

Honda's Power Equipment business dates back to 1953 and is based on the original spirit of Honda - to utilise technology to help people - when an engine for agricultural equipment was launched with the aim of reducing the manual labour of farmers.

Since then, Honda has been utilising its core technology, the engine, to gradually expand its Power Equipment offering and the product line-up now includes tillers, generators, outboard engines, pumps, lawnmowers, snow blowers as well as many other products.

Honda has always been proactive in developing products in the areas of energy conservation and creation and as a result, has been increasing the diversity of its Power Equipment line-up which now (in certain countries now) includes a compact household gas engine cogeneration unit and a solar power system which adopts CIGS thin-film solar cells*2.

In Japan, Honda Power Equipment products are produced at Kumamoto Factory and Hosoe Plant at Hamamatsu Factory. In regions outside of Japan, Honda Power Equipment product production began in 1984 with the production of lawnmowers in the United States of America.

This was closely followed in 1986 by the opening of Honda France Industries which produces walk-behind lawn mowers, brushcutters and generators for the European market. Today, the factory can produce over 1,700 units a day and in 2008 celebrated production of its 3 millionth unit.

Today, Honda Power Equipment products are produced at eleven production plants in nine countries and are used regularly by people in more than 150 countries around the world, positioning its Power Equipment business as one of the key pillars for Honda's business along with the Motorcycle and Automobile businesses.

Honda will continue its efforts to provide a wide-range of environmentally-responsible, safe and useful products to fulfil the increasingly diversifying needs of customers across the world.

*1Honda's internal data: Solar cell products are not included in the 100 million units which were determined based on the number of engines produced.

*2 By using non-silicon thin film made from a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS), Honda solar cells achieved a major reduction in the environmental footprint with the reduction of energy consumed during the manufacturing process.