TOKYO -- Honda is ready to offer bigger vehicles in North America should demand return for such models, as well as the small cars viewed as the Japanese automaker's forte, a senior executive told The Associated Press Thursday.

Honda Motor Co. Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo said working to please the customer has been "a basic company stance" over its half-century history in the U.S. market. Honda reached its 50th anniversary in the U.S. Thursday.

What's so difficult to predict is whether American consumers will revert to their old tastes, he said in an interview with The Associated Press at Honda's Tokyo headquarters. When gas prices dropped after a surge in the 1970s, Americans returned to buying big models, said Kondo, who headed Honda's U.S. operations from 2003 to 2007.