Restructuring the Mold Production System. Transfer of mold and die business from Melco Co., Ltd.

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (YMC) is currently working to globally consolidate the system for mold and die production operations that until now have been conducted independently by the company's motorcycle, outboard motors and other business operations, and by group companies in Japan and overseas. As part of this restructuring, the ownership of Yamaha Motor subsidiary Melco Co., Ltd.'s mold and die businesses in Japan and Indonesia will be transferred to YMC as of April 1, 2012.

The aim of global consolidation of the system for mold and die production is to strengthen the manufacturing, engineering and marketing functions of the Yamaha Motor group by (1) further developing molding technology, (2) unifying the mold and die production process, (3) reducing overall cost and (4) shortening lead time for developing products and moving them into production.
In the ASEAN region in particular, this consolidation along with the start of operations at the ASEAN Integrated Development Center will strengthen YMC's direct involvement in the consolidation of mold and die production and facilitate more efficient product development and increase the market competitiveness of resulting products.

In 2011, YMC created a Mold Technology Division within the Technology Center's Manufacturing Technology Section as an organization to implement a strategy of globally consolidating all of the processes involved in molds, from mold design and production to preservation and storage.
The transfer of ownership of Melco's mold business to YMC now completes the consolidation of all divisions involved with molds for the ASEAN region and the global Yamaha Motor group.

Employees of Melco Co., Ltd. will now become employees of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and ownership of its mold and die production facilities will also be transferred to YMC.

Yamaha Motor is currently working to increase its corporate value through sustainable growth by expanding "business scale," improving "financial strength" and augmenting "corporate strength" as outlined in the next medium-term management plan. This initiative falls in the realm of efforts to augment "corporate strength" and will surely contribute significantly to the company's ongoing efforts to strengthen its engineering, manufacturing and marketing functions.