Others : Golf Cars

Product Profile

Golf cars have become popular on golf courses today because they save labor, let golfers transport their own clubs, lighten work for caddies, and encourage smoother, more enjoyable rounds. Various specifications are available based on market and consumer (golf clubs and resorts) needs. Options include passenger capacity (2 or 5 passengers), the power unit (gasoline engine or electric motor) and the operating system (electromagnetic guidance or manual).

Background of the Business

In 1972, Yamaha Motor began developing a land car for use at a resort owned and operated by Nippon Gakki (presently Yamaha Corporation), later segueing into the development of golf cars, which the Company released for the first time in 1975 with its YG292 model. Subsequently, as the business has grown, in addition to production at our factory in Japan, we commenced production at a factory in the United States in 1988 followed by Thailand in 2015, and have now produced more than one million golf cars in total.

Current Market Conditions

In Japan, demand is highest for five-passenger models, which also carry caddies, and in the U.S., where caddies are often not used, demand is highest for t wo-passenger models. O ur ongoing efforts to provide customers with even greater value have included the introduction in 1996 of an electromagnetic guidance model that can operate autonomously using mounted sensors to trace electric cables buried underground or be operated by remote control, as well as a more environmentally friendly model with a quieter electric motor in 2000, and a new series in 2018 that is equipped with a driving support system that can remember routes.

Efforts toward Level-4 Autonomous Driving

For more than 20 years, Yamaha has been developing autonomous driving systems based on golf cars and land cars. Since 2014, we have been offering vehicles capable of navigating public roads as a means of transportation to solve transit issues posed by the aging population and depopulation. We have supplied vehicles to Japan’s first level-4 autonomous driving operation service, which began in May 2023 in Eiheiji-cho, Fukui Prefecture. In addition, for navigating in areas outside public roads, our newly established company, eve autonomy, Inc., began offering its infactory autonomous transportation service in 2022. Yamaha develops, manufactures and sells EVs capable of using the service for level-4 autonomous driving.

Production