Yamaha Marine

Yamaha Motor Company Limited (Jap. ヤ マ ハ 発 動機 株式会社) is a Japanese motorcycle manufacturer. Initially part of the Yamaha Corporation. The company also produces other motorized vehicles: all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles (see also Yamaha snowmobiles), boat motors, and boats.

In 1887, Thorakusu Yamaha founded Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (since 1987 - Yamaha Corporation) for the production of Western musical instruments - harmonium, and later piano. Soon the company mastered the production of metal components for these tools, and since the 1920s also began to produce propellers for aircraft. In 1954, the Japanese government returned to Nippon Gakki a plant for the production of metal products, confiscated at the end of World War II. It began the production of motorcycles. July 1, 1955 this production was allocated to an independent company, called the Yamaha Motor Company Limited, its president was Genkity Kawakami, who also continued to lead Nippon Gakki. The first model - Yamaha YA-1, copied from the DKW RT 125, bore the nickname “Aka-tombo”, which means “red dragonfly” (due to simple shapes and chestnut-red color). It was Yamaha's “Red Dragonfly” that owes its first sporting victories: in the very first race at the foot of Mount Fuji, a victory was won on YA-1.

In 1959, Yamaha Motor began manufacturing motor boats made of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP). In 1960, a subsidiary of Yamaha International Corporation was established, which began selling Yamaha products in the United States. In 1968, the company began producing snowmobiles, in 1975 - golf cars, in 1978 - snow removal equipment.

In 1964, a subsidiary of Siam Yamaha Co. was founded. in Thailand, in 1966, the production of motorcycles was started in Taiwan. In 1972, the headquarters was moved to Ivata. In 1976, the first Yamaha arc welding robot was introduced.

By the end of the 1970s, having mastered the US motorcycle market, the Yamaha Motor Company ranked second in the world in their production. In 1981, the company attempted to press Honda from the first place, starting mass production of new models. The competitors responded in the same way, and Harley Davidson achieved the introduction of restrictive tariffs on the import of Japanese motorcycles in the USA. Yamaha Motor Company was not ready for this, because, unlike Honda, it did not have its own manufacturing facilities in the United States; as a result, Yamaha Motor was left with a million un sold motorcycles, a debt of $ 1 billion and a net loss of $ 126 million. It had a limited effect on the main corporation, Nippon Gakki, because at that time it controlled only 39% of Yamaha Motor’s shares, and electronic musical instruments Yamaha enjoyed great success.

Yamaha YZF 600R. In 1982, Yamaha Motor started a partnership with the French manufacturer of scooters Motobecane (MBK), and soon Yamaha Motor became the largest shareholder of this company. Since 1985, Yamaha Motor began operations in India. Since 2001, India Yamaha Motor has become the full property of Yamaha Motor. There are two factories in India. In 2013, India founded the Yamaha Motor Research and Development India Pvt. Ltd. and marketing company Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd.

In 1990, the Yamaha Motor Company began a partnership with the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Minarelli, and in 2002, the company became part of Yamaha Motor.

In 2015, Yamaha and the Italian sports car brand Abarth signed a partnership agreement for the 2 seasons of the MotoGP World Championship 2015 and 2016.

In November 2016, the companies presented two joint products at the EICMA show - the Yamaha XSR900 Abarth motorcycle and the Fiat 500 Abarth Tributo.