Edition No.179

December 2022

Alia Investments Pvt. Ltd., Yamaha’s outboard motor distributor in the Maldives, has been striving after customer satisfaction for more than 40 years and is acknowledged by many as one of the best customer-oriented companies. We never stop our journey to achieving goals.

Since 2019, Alia and OMDO have been conducting Go Beyond Caravan (GBC), an integrated market activity with the entire 3S team to serve our outboard motor customers.
Maldives consists of around 200 inhabited islands, and outboard motors are used everywhere.

Through our logical area marketing, we identified important markets where there is a high demand for the product and our market share is comparatively low but with a high potential for Yamaha to grow.

With this venue selection approach, Alia was successful in servicing about 400 engines through 4 GBC events in the last 4 years. The latest GBC took place from August 14th to 18th, 2022. Alia not only serviced 97 outboards but also sold 3 brand-new units and $9,000 worth of spare parts during the 5-day event.

We are very aware of the importance of community-based activities because it is necessary to provide services to customers in their hometown or the place of their business in a highly competitive world.

Before and after GBC, we discussed plans and results to improve the activities with OMDO’s 2S team and YDS (Yamaha Motor Distribution Singapore Pte., Ltd.) in an online meeting.

Such initiatives contributed to creating more customer confidence in Yamaha outboard motors as well as expanding the business. We are committed to maintaining our dominance in the Maldives by continuing customer-oriented activities with the integrated force of 3S.

Indian distributor, GEORGE MAIJO INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED organized Go Beyond Caravan (GBC) in Nagapatinam on August 9th and 10th, 2022.
Before implementing GBC, we had discussed the contents with OMDO and YDS (Yamaha Motor Distribution Singapore Pte.,Ltd.) in several online meetings. OMDO’s local consultant had participated in the GBC.

Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean, approximately 160 by 56 kilometers. There are three million people residing on the island. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. Motor Sport, Inc. is the distributor of Yamaha in Puerto Rico. In the 1970s, Motor Sport began as the distributor of Yamaha products in Puerto Rico with sales and services of motorcycles. At this time, Eduardo Fossas (Arturo and Hector's father, Carolina's grandfather) was a silent partner.

Recognizing the quality of Yamaha Marine products, in the 1980's Motor Sport introduced them to the Puerto Rico market. During this time, the brothers Arturo and Hector Fossas became the sole owners of Motor Sport, buying the stock of their father. In 2015 Motor Sport saw the third generation of the family running the company, with a new President, Carolina Fossas. When this was completed, Arturo and Hector Fossas moved positions to Advisory Board Members within Motor Sport.

To date, Carolina runs all the day-to-day operations, while keeping her father and uncle in-the-loop for their valuable business advice. Under Carolina's guidance, Motor Sport has implemented multiple programs to bring 3S dealers into the internet-era and help build a strong connection with them. At the moment, the parts inventory level is available 24/7 via the webpage: this enables customers and technicians to know if a replacement part is locally in the inventory, or if it will be arriving in a couple of days via mail.

Motor Sport keeps growing the business and now has over 50% of the marine outboard motor market and is a leader in the Motorcycle and WaveRunners.

We at Oman International Marine Equipment and Motors Co., LLC. (OHI Marine), Yamaha distributor in Oman, have established one of our largest new workshops in Quriyat. This will provide more comprehensive after-service and effective sales in the surrounding coastal areas. The new workshop is 3,000 m2 and is situated in front of the sea. It is an appropriate location at the Port of Quriyat.

The 4-stroke market is growing in the Quriyat region year by year. However, we had limited space to repair bigger 4-stroke engines and boats with our existing workshop in this area. Therefore we decided to build a new workshop to capture the ever-expanding demand for 4-stroke engines. We would like to facilitate service to customers with professionalism.

The workshop was designed to provide satisfaction for aftersales service by utilizing the following points.

1) Providing service support to customers with 2-stroke & 4-stroke in separate work areas.
2) Thanks to its location in front of the sea, customers can easily bring the engines and boats for repairs.
3) Bigger engines can be serviced and managed along with boats.
4) Twin large test tanks enable two large engines to operate simultaneously and improve work efficiency.
5) The spare parts storage is organized accordingly to the instructions, and we provide better service for customers' demands.
6) New spacious workshop equipped with the latest tools will help us to generate confidence among customers towards the Yamaha brand and product reliability.
7) Service training classrooms provide apprentice training for local technicians to improve technical skills.
8) Sales and Customer reception makes managing existing and new customer information easier.

The new workshop was opened in August 2022. The neighboring fishermen have already visited here, and our staff interacted with the customers to explain new machinery and equipment. They gave us positive feedback. The engine, spare parts & oil are sold at the store while the workshop handles repairs and installations. We will keep providing satisfaction with professional service and continue to aim for more sales expansion of bigger engines from this new workshop.

Yamaha GEN BLU Carnival is back in 2022 after 2 years of delay due to Covid-19 pandemic. This 3rd edition of GEN BLU Carnival was co-hosted between Hong Leong Yamaha Motor (HLYM) and HLY Marine (HYM), with the theme “A day of fun, challenge and excitement on land & sea,” which attracted around 15,000 people to Teluk Batik in Lumut, Perak of Malaysia on 20th August 2022.

The carnival was living up to its expectations, as it saw the crowd enjoying themselves in the music concerts, lucky draws, games and challenges in the booths, as well as the excitement of the bike ride and water activities. It was the first time HYM took part in this great event, and HYM partnered with its dealer to showcase the Yamaha Outboard Motors, genuine parts and Yamalube, which attracted a lot of interest in the booth.

The market generally displayed the sign of welcome to this kind of customer engagement event as a reflection of appreciation to all Yamaha customers. HYM also organized fun water activities like watercraft, banana boat and fun boat riding that gave a great experience to the visitors, and the demonstrations of the Yamaha WaveRunners caught the eyes of the crowd. Overall, it was an exciting day at the beach and well worth a sunburn. Everybody is looking forward to the next GEN BLU Carnival.

From 22nd to 28th in September, the 25th edition of the São Paulo Boat Show, the largest nautical event in Latin America, was held indoor at the São Paulo Expo.
More than 100 exhibiting brands gathered, and more than 36,000 qualified people visited this event. About half a billion Brazilian reals have closed deals, and of course, Yamaha couldn't stay out of this one.

With an innovative booth project (it even had a SuperJet hanging on the wall!), Yamaha took its main novelties to the exhibition in this year: the complete Pearl White Line, formed by 115HP, 150HP, 200HP, 300HP and 425HP, made up of an elegant pearly white, bringing even more differentiation in the water, which was a complete success among visitors to the fair.

In addition, Yamaha also exhibited WaveRunner 2022 Line up and had space for the Yamaha Store, which received various items from the “Blu Collection,” Yamaha's official clothing line, consisting of t-shirts, caps, backpack, windbreakers, and other items.

It was a unique opportunity to create bonds with visitors by means of presenting a little bit of the Yamaha marine universe.

Yamaha WaterCraft Group Company hosted hundreds of Yamaha Boat and WaveRunner dealers from the U.S. and Canada at its annual Business Meeting and Product Premiere being held this August 20-22 in Toronto. The three-day event is the WaterCraft Group’s opportunity to educate and excite Yamaha dealers, highlighted by the unveiling of the MY23 boat and WaveRunner lines; and take dealer wholesale orders for the year.

Yamaha dealers gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Center Saturday evening for a multi-media presentation that included YMUS President and CEO Mike Chrzanowski, U.S. Marine Business Unit President Ben Speciale, and Yamaha WaterCraft General Manager Bryan Seti, who unveiled all-new, technology-rich, 22-foot sport boats and center consoles and a revolutionary low-speed handling and dock assist innovation that makes boating more fun for captains of all skill levels.
This year’s event is extra special in that this is the first “live” WaterCraft Business Meeting and Product Premiere in three years due to the pandemic.

All New Low-speed Handling and Dock Assist Technology

DRiVE X is a combination of the Yamaha DRiVE paddle control system that moves the boat forward and aft without taking your hands off the steering wheel, and new steering wheel functionality that slowly moves the boat starboard or port, rotates the boat on its axis, and holds the boat against the dock for convenient loading and unloading of passengers. DRiVE X is featured on the 27' 275SDX only for ’23 but will find its way to other Yamaha boats soon.

All New 22-Foot Sport Boats and Center Consoles

The new sport boats and center consoles are nine-inches longer with four-inches higher freeboard at the bow. The base model 220 Series boats are powered by twin, TR-1 HO Yamaha marine engines. The 222 Series models come with more powerful 1.8L HO motors.

Standard Factory-Installed, Custom Integrated Audio Speakers

For WaveRunners, all FX models, except for the FX HO, now come standard with premium audio speakers that are controlled through the vibrant Connext multi-color display. The package includes twin 4.5" waterproof marine speakers, an integrated two-channel amplifier, an easy access control pad, and an integrated low-voltage regulator to protect the battery.

Let's continue on the topic of electric corrosion, which we started in the previous One-point Service. As explained in the article before, the term electric corrosion is also known as electrolytic corrosion, galvanic corrosion, and electrochemical corrosion. We will collectively refer to them as "electric corrosion."

Three Factors that Cause Electric Corrosion

Do you remember the reaction of metals in seawater and the mechanism of a voltaic battery, explained in the last part of the previous article? It was when the following three conditions were met, electric corrosion occurred, and the battery produced direct current (DC).

1. Two types of metals with a potential difference
2. Immersed in electrolytes
3. Electrical continuity between the metals

When these three conditions are met, direct current and electric corrosion are generated simultaneously. Electric corrosion cannot be avoided in seawater, as shown in the lower right image. Then the question becomes how to prevent electric corrosion when using marine products in seawater.

How to Prevent Electric Corrosion

It might be easy to think of an idea to stop the process of electric corrosion by removing one of the above three conditions, but what methods can realistically be considered?

To remove condition 1:
A. Use only one metal or no metals to avoid the potential difference.
B. Apply an electric current in the opposite direction so that the flow of electricity will be canceled out.

To remove condition 2:
C. Prevent contact between the metal and seawater by painting or plating the exposed surface area.

To remove condition 3:
D. Install an insulating material between different metals to prevent exposure to each other.

If we can implement the above solutions, in theory, we should be able to prevent electric corrosion. However, solutions A and D are difficult to achieve. Solution C is not perfect, although it is an effective way. Solution B can be used, but it requires a battery, and also electricity is consumed, which presents a big problem. Therefore, a method called the sacrificial anode system was invented to protect metals from corroding by applying zinc which is more electrically negative than aluminum. Aluminum is usually electrically positive but becomes negative by this method. In this way, the zinc becomes the anode sacrificing itself to electric corrosion to protect the aluminum. In addition, regular replacement of the corroded zinc will preserve the aluminum for a longer time.
The sacrificial anode system removes the potential difference between the two metals outlined in condition 1. This is also the most used for corrosion protection because of its low cost and easy maintenance. In marine engines, this zinc is called an anode, and it is attached to the engines' exterior and the cooling water system.

Maintaining Anti-corrosion Effect

Can the aluminum body be protected by only replacing the anode?
The answer is no. In order to protect the aluminum body, it is necessary to generate electric corrosion on the anode. For that reason, the anode condition must be properly maintained.
The following conditions are required.

1) The anode and seawater are in contact.
a. Do not apply paint or grease to the surface of the anode.
b. Remove dirt and scale from the anode surface.

2) The anode and body must be touching.
c. Remove dirt and scale between the anode and body.

Inform the customers to inspect the anode when replacing it.
Also, many 4-stroke models are currently equipped with a flushing device so that the cooling water system can be washed with fresh water after use. Removing seawater from the cooling water system is an effective prevention method to stop clogging and corrosion caused by salt buildup. It should be recommended to the customers to perform regular maintenance.
In this article, we explained how to prevent electric corrosion, and in the next one, we will analyze the differences between 2-stroke and 4-stroke.