New company established in Taiwan for the development of Yamaha motorcycles

On January 1, 1997, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (YMC) established a new company to engage in the development of Yamaha motorcycles, and efforts are underway to begin operations by April of this year.
The new company has been named Yamaha Motor R&D Taiwan Co., Ltd. (YMRT) and will be established in Chunli City, Taiwan, in a joint effort with Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co., Ltd. (YMT) (President: Daisaku Karaki, Location: Chunli, Taiwan), YMC's Taiwanese joint venture company engaged in the manufacture and sales of Yamaha brand motorcycles. The new company will be capitalized at 5 million yuan (approx. US$613,000), of which YMC will invest 80% and YMT 20%.

The new company will engage in the development of Yamaha brand motorcycles on consignments originating from YMC and YMT, including product planning and styling. Initially, the company will develop primarily scooters based on development consignments from YMT, but eventually plans call for activities to expand to the development of motorcycles for YMC's other overseas production bases as well. The company will begin operations with approximately 80 employees and the sales goal for the first year is approx. 100 million yuan (appr ox. US$12.26 million).

At Yamaha Motor we are dedicated to the basic policy of "developing and manufacturing products in the countries where they are used" with the aim of ensuring rapid supply of products that fit the national character and needs of each market.
The establishment of this new company is a step aimed at the further localization of product development in a way that will lead to the development of more competitive models for the Taiwanese market. By undertaking the globalization not only of manufacturing but development as well, it is our aim to see the development capabilities of this new company eventually put to use for the development of models for other overseas markets too.

Presently, the demand for motorcycles in Taiwan stands at about one million units annually, with the market centering around 50 cc to 125 cc scooters. In October of 1986, YMC established Yamaha Motor Taiwan for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Yamaha brand motorcycles in this Taiwanese market, and now this company manufactures and sells approximately 410,000 motorcycle s a year (1996 projection).
Furthermore, in 1994 we established Yamaha Motor Taiwan Trading Co., Ltd. (YMTT) for the purpose of exporting and selling Yamaha brand motorcycles manufactured in Taiwan to other foreign markets. This company now exports approximately 50,000 motorcycles annually (1996 projecti on) primarily to the countries of Europe and Central and South America. The newly established company thus joins YMT and YMTT to become YMC's third moto rcycle-related affiliate in Taiwan.