News & Topics

The Realize Our Adventure (R.O.A.) program, led by the Recreational Vehicle Business Unit, aims to deepen our understanding of our customers through our own adventures and Kando experiences.

Now in its fourth year, the R.O.A. program has provided employees with various experiences, ranging from lectures to interactions with people from external organizations. One of the core program activities, the U.S. Market Experience Event, is an opportunity for RV R&D members in Japan to put themselves in customers’ shoes and gain first-hand experience as ATV and ROV users.

The event size expanded this year, with a record number of 32 participants. The event was held in the Rock, Trail, and Mud areas of the expansive Shibetsu Test Course. At night, participants enjoyed a night ride in vehicles equipped with aftermarket light components to illuminate the course.

The event gave participants more than just driving experiences. They had cookouts, cleaned vehicles, washed their riding clothes, and did many things that our customers do. Their experience gave them a full picture of the user experience.

This year, we made some changes to the program content. One of the most frequent requests of the past three years was to include the riding experience of non-Yamaha brand vehicles. In response to this request, we purchased vehicles of other brands and added them to the test-drive fleet.

The updated program content created discoveries and new Kando experiences, resulting in an 81% satisfaction rate in the event participant survey, up 10 points from the previous year's 71%.

In 2024, the "US Market Experience Event" was renamed "Summer R.O.A.," and new "Winter R.O.A." events were added for product experiences in the snow. The "Summer and Winter R.O.A." will be the core initiative to give our staff a better understanding of the RV users and improve the quality of product development.

YAMASHITA Kaito, RV Development Division, Recreational Vehicle Business Unit, Outdoor Land Vehicle Business Operations (YMC)