On July 20, 2023, officials will induct Honda Motor Co co-founder Takeo Fujisawa into the Automotive Hall of Fame at Michigan’s The Fillmore Detroit. In 1989, Fujisawa's long-time business partner and Honda founder Soichiro Honda became the first Japanese automotive executive to earn a spot at the Dearborn, Michigan-based hall of fame. Fujisawa’s induction will honor everything the pair accomplished together.
Honda and Fujisawa met in August, 1949, one year after the founding of the Honda Motor Co. Prior to that encounter, Fujisawa worked as a salesman for a steel manufacturer and a lumber company. He brought that business acumen to the table at Honda, overseeing finance, sales, and marketing while functioning as Honda’s right-hand man.
The duo’s complementary skillsets freed Honda to focus on development, design, technology, and innovation. Fujisawa and Honda put that one-two punch on full display throughout the decades. During that tenure, Soichiro Honda introduced the world’s best-selling mobility product, the Super Cub. While the Honda president invented the defining model, Fujisawa was instrumental in the Super Cub’s worldwide success.
In 1959, Fujisawa took on the challenge of expanding Honda’s business to the United States. Despite an unfavorable outlook in the U.S. market, where consumers only purchased 60,000 units (mostly large-capacity models) annually, the then-senior managing director saw an opportunity for growth. As a result, American Honda became the firm’s first subsidiary outside of Japan.
Fujisawa’s bold move paid off almost immediately, with Honda’s independent dealer network helping the Japanese OEM to become the best-selling brand in the U.S. by the mid-’60s. To ensure that Honda stayed on the bleeding edge, Fujisawa established the Honda R&D Co. as a separate entity. The new business allowed engineers to develop new technologies and secured Big Red’s future beyond Soichiro Honda’s time.
The 25-year partnership ended in March, 1973, when Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa jointly retired. Soon, the two industry mavericks will reunite in a place they both belong—the Automotive Hall of Fame.
