Honda's Good Planning

In 2005, U.S. passenger vehicle sales fell 17.4 percent; Honda's sales, on the other hand, rose six percent. As a result, for the first time, Honda passed the Chrysler Group in sales to come in fourth in U.S. sales behind GM, Toyota and Ford (remember, since then, Toyota overtook GM for the top spot).

The writer of this article credits Honda consistent focus on its principles for this success. While other automakers were taking advantage of low gas prices to push out SUVs, Honda has always refused to develop vehicles with a V-8 engine or to develop light trucks. Instead, Honda was the first to go to market with a hybrid vehicle (the largely unsuccessful Insight) and put a lot of effort into developing hydrogen power and clean diesel vehicles.