Honda is fascinating to me. Making among the most consistently reliable cars, at least according to every consumer survey I've ever seen. Their cars are relatively no-frills, they usually seem to trail any technology trends in the industry by a generation or two. They're kind of the Nintendo of the car world. Never first, generally or always profitable, even when they look like they're down.

They're basically the automotive embodiment of Gunpei Yokoi's "Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology".

At least in the part of the world where I live, I can absolutely guarantee that at any given stoplight, there will be at least 1 Honda vehicle. They're absolutely ubiquitous here. Honda buyers are also among the highest percentage of returning customers...because their last car gave them something like 20 years of trouble free, reasonable cost driving. They're profitable even though they're in 2 of the most competitive and lowest average profit automotive segments in the world and their products last forever.

Yet there's some unusual things going on with Honda that I think is worth paying attention to:

- I'm frequently surprised, when I leave my local bubble, how few Hondas I see. I remember first noticing it during a few travels to the midwest. At any given stoplight, I could guarantee I wouldn't see a Honda. I'd definitely see an American brands and usually a Toyota. These days I see a surprising number of Hyundais, but outside of what seems to be fairly particular parts of the U.S. Honda vehicles just don't seem to be that common.

- I'm even more surprised when overseas how slim the Honda pickings are. I think in a couple-three weeks in London I may have seen 3 Eurostyle civics. Reading UK reviews the reviewers seem so...tepid on the vehicles. Comparing them often unfavorable to notoriously unreliable VW and even worse, Peugeot and Citroën, which are among the few automakers to make Ferraris and Jaguars look like reliable automotive appliances. I'd say this says that UK buyers don't really value reliability, but reviews of UK Fords are full of "if you want a reliable car, this is a good car to get"...which is odd, since Fords, while probably more reliable than most European cars, are not terribly reliable in comparison to Japanese cars (there about as good as Korean cars are these days).

- In Continental Europe I can't remember seeing more then 1, despite months all over. In Korea, the American spec Accord was about as popular as a Japanese car can be. But I've seen more Landrovers in Korea that Hondas.

- On the flip side, their Japanese rival Toyota, is just about everywhere. The Hilux is especially ubiquitous in harsher climates. I even owned one for a bit (they're not nearly as indestructible as Top Gear makes them appear) and it was fine.

- Honda runs a surprisingly public and aggressive R&D program. Everything from fuel cells to humanoid robots. The first in-car navigation system ever was made by Honda. But they seem to take forever before they trickle this tech into their cars. The moment of commercialization for them seems to be a generation or two after everybody else is doing it.

All of these things make me think Honda still has huge growth potential. If consumers start to value what Honda is offering, they could easily be a #1 or #2 in the world maker. As it is, consumer simply value other things (big engines, styling, name cachet, whatever).

I think Honda takes an unusually measured approach in the industry. The last couple generations seem strangely out of character. I've got this down to two events:

1. The rise of Korean cars. The weird stylish Accord and Civic from that period, with their bizarre button filled, non-ergonomic dashes.

2. Fukushima. The Honda generation from that period are almost a return to form, but they seem oddly unfocused in design.

However, but golly if the current generation seems like Honda back in form. Boring, reasonably prices, unbelievably reliable appliances you ride in reasonable comfort from a->b.