Although most people think of motorcycles when they hear the name Kawasaki, the roots of the industrial giant today known as Kawasaki Heavy Industry (KHI) extend as far back as 1878, when Shozo Kawasaki established the Kawasaki Tsukiji Shipyard in Tokyo. Click here to view a picture tour of the history of Kawasaki.

Since then the Japanese corporation has produced ships, shipyards and dry docks, steam turbines, aeroplanes, cars, trucks, submarines, helicopters, railway locomotives and rolling stock, steel bridges, cement manufacturing equipment, tunnel-boring machines, industrial robots, motorcycles and scooters, personal watercraft and countless other products for users on land, sea and in the air in Japan and around the world.

Kawasaki Motors South Africa (KMSA) has been the sole official importer of all Kawasaki motorcycle and personal watercraft products for Southern Africa since 1975. Associated Motor Holdings, a subsidiary of the Imperial Group, is KMSA's major shareholder, with the balance of ownership being held by Kawasaki Motors South Africa's management.

Information related to the Promotion of Access to Information Act can be found on the Imperial Holdings website http://www.imperial.co.za.