Yamaha in Europe

YAMAHA IN EUROPE Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. in the Netherlands is the regional head office in Europe. In 1961, we took on the challenge of competing in Europe – the historical home of motorsport, where motorcycle culture has a history that spans over a hundred years. From then on, Yamaha’s motorcycle imports were handled by importers in each country throughout the continent. To facilitate and build upon the increased demand, Yamaha Japan established a subsidiary in the region. This marked the birth of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. (YMENV) on 24th October 1968 in the Netherlands. Establishing a unified headquarters at YMENV stimulated the import of a wide range of Yamaha products such as motorcycles, outboard engines, snowmobiles and later, scooters, ATVs, Side-by-Side vehicles and many more. YMENV also helps to coordinate and support our racing activities in Europe. YMENV also relays back to Yamaha Japan the full extent of European motorcycle culture, which significantly impacted product planning and development. A number of products that have won a place in history were brought about by this fusion of European culture and Japanese engineering. Our participation in both on-road and off-track Grand Prix World Championships – the pinnacle of the sport and the perfect place to nurture our inherited Yamaha Racing spirit  – is a prime example of our activities in our pursuit of creating Kando. To date, some of our day-one importers in the region are still part of the Yamaha family either as a subsidiary of YMENV, such as Sonauto (FR, 1966), which became Yamaha Motor France S.A. with the late Jean Claude Olivier as President and which is now a branch of the YMENV, or as an independent importer, like Danfay Limited (IE, since 1965) and Hostettler AG (CH, since 1968). Over the years we expanded in the European market and extended to manufacturing products in the region. Entering the (West) German market – which had an established motorcycle culture, a historical connection with Yamaha and an important large-displacement motorcycle market – we formed sales company, Mitsui Maschinen GmbH (MMG), as a joint venture with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. However, to make communication with customers easier, as MMG dealt in Yamaha-related products, the company’s name was changed to Yamaha Motor Deutschland GmbH in 1996. In 1981, we started a joint venture with Sociedad Española de Motocicletas S.A. (SEMSA) in Barcelona, Spain, which bought a factory where the first Spanish Yamaha model, the DT80MXS, rolled off the assembly line in September 1982. Unfortunately, immediately after its start, SEMSA experienced its first economic and company crisis. When Spain joined the EEC in 1987, we took full ownership and Yamaha Motor España S.A. was established. As part of the Yamaha Motor Group’s industrial strategy, we began construction of a new factory in Spain. However, three years after the factory’s inauguration in 1988, it unfortunately burnt down in a fire. Thankfully, there were no human losses and thanks to a tremendous amount of dedication, a bigger and better factory was constructed in 11 months and reopened in 1992. For about two decades, this factory produced popular motorcycle and scooter models, like the Majesty 125 and the Neo’s 50cc scooters (among others). The first motorcycle rolling off the assembly line at SEMSA, which was later named Yamaha Motor España S.A.in September, 1982. MBK Industrie assembly line in Saint Quentin, France in July, 1987. Following a request by the French Industrial Reconstruction Committee, we increased our business interest in France in September 1984 by buying MBK Industrie, a motorcycle manufacturer in the northeastern town of Saint Quentin in the North of France. It had been created to help the restructuring of Motobécane, a failed motorcycle manufacturer. After a management crisis at Motobécane, MBK Industrie became a fully-owned Yamaha subsidiary. To rebuild MBK in three months-time, Yamaha joined forces with MBK managers in 1987  to improve production systems, quality control, plant maintenance and facilities while coaching MBK Industrie from the sidelines to improve the factory culture. This was no easy task considering the cultural differences between the two companies. Today, MBK Industrie manufactures European-designed and developed models and is a subsidiary of YMENV. In May 1984, Yamaha made several bold advances in the Italian market. Yamaha formed a technical-assistance agreement with Motori Minarelli, a small engine manufacturer, to give local engine assembly for the DT125L/C. A year later, a similar arrangement was made with Belgarda S.p.A, a motorcycle sales company, regarding the manufacturing of bikes. In May 1986, the first DT125L/C, with a Motori Minarelli engine rolled off the assembly line at the Belgarda factory. Motori Minarelli became a member of the Yamaha Motor Group in 1989 when Yamaha took a 40% stake in the company, and in 2003 it became a wholly-owned YMENV subsidiary, still manufacturing and selling engines used in motorcycles, scooters and mopeds. In 2021, YMENV and Fantic Motor agreed on a deal to make Motori Minarelli a 100% subsidiary of Fantic Motor. In this way, the existing YMENV and Fantic Motor synergy has been further strengthened, bringing the collaboration between the two companies to the next level in the fields of motorcycle and e-mobility. After the Italian government withdrew from the European monetary system in 1992, Yamaha raised its stake in Belgarda to 80%, making it a Yamaha Motor Group company as well, with Belgarda producing 600cc motorcycles. Belgarda changed its name to Yamaha Motor Italia S.p.A. (YMIT) in 2004, which nowadays operates marketing, sales and service activities in the Italian market. Even though the Italian factory stopped its operations in 2008, the Yamaha hub in Italy has continued to grow over the years, opening the European R&D centre (YMRE) in 2000, and establishing the European headquarters for Yamaha’s MotoGP Factory Racing operations in Gerno di Lesmo. Buster SuperMagnum, one of Inha Works’ flagship models. More recently, in 2017, we took a full interest in the boat manufacturing company, Inha Works Ltd. (IWL) in Finland to strengthen our leading position in the marine business. IWL manufactures, markets and sells Buster, Yamarin …

Our Foundation

OUR FOUNDATION ” I want to try to manufacture motorcycle engines ” Genichi Kawakami, Yamaha Motor’s first President It was from these words spoken by Genichi Kawakami in 1953, that today’s Yamaha Motor Company was born. Genichi Kawakami was the first son of Kaichi Kawakami, the third-generation president of Nippon Gakki (musical instruments and electronics; presently Yamaha Corporation). Genichi studied and graduated from Takachiho Higher Commercial School in March of 1934. In July of 1937, he was the second Kawakami to join the Nippon Gakki Company. He quickly rose to the position of manager of the company’s Tenryu Factory Company which produced musical instruments, and then Senior General Manager, before assuming the role of the fourth-generation President in 1950 at the young age of 38. In 1953, Genichi was looking for a way to make use of idle machining equipment that had previously been used to make aircraft propellers. Looking back on the founding of Yamaha Motor Company, Genichi had this to say: “While the company was performing well and had some financial leeway, I felt the need to look for our next area of business. Demand is something we create. So, I did some research.” He looked into manufacturing many products, including sewing machines, auto parts, scooters, three-wheeled utility vehicles, and…motorcycles. Eventually, the market and competitive factors led him to focus only on the motorcycle market. Genichi visited the United States many times during this period, and he had his research division chief and other managers visit leading motorcycle factories around the country. Genichi Kawakami. Founder of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. “They returned and told me there was still plenty of opportunity, even considering the fact that we were entering the market late. I didn’t want to be completely unprepared in this unfamiliar business so we toured to German factories before setting out to build our first 125cc bike. I joined their tour around Europe, during which my chief engineers learned how to build motorbikes. We did as much research as possible to ensure that we could build a bike as good as any out there. Once we had that confidence, we started going.” “If you are going to make it, make it the very best there is.“ With these words as their motto, the development team poured all their energies into building the first prototype, and ten months later in August of 1954 the first model was complete. It was the Yamaha YA-1. The bike was powered by an air-cooled, 2-stroke, single-cylinder 125cc engine. Once finished, it was put through an unprecedented 10,000 km endurance test to ensure its quality was top-class. This was destined to be the first crystallization of what has now become a long tradition of Yamaha creativity and an inexhaustible spirit of challenge. 1955 YA-1 Nickname: Akatombo, Red Dragonfly. The finish line at the YA-1 10,000km durability test, 1954 October. Genichi Kawakami at a YA-1 test ride at the Asama course. The Hamakita Factory of Nippon Gakki was built in January 1955 and production on the Yamaha YA-1 began. With confidence in the new direction that Genichi was taking, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. was founded on July 1, 1955. Staffed by 274 enthusiastic employees, the new motorcycle manufacturer built about 200 units per month. Just days after its foundation, Yamaha entered its new YA-1 in Japan’s two biggest race events: the 3rd Mt. Fuji Ascent Race and the 1st Asama Highlands Race. In both debuts, Yamaha won the 125cc class. The following year the YA-1 won again at the Asama Highlands Race in the Light and Ultra-light classes. By 1956, a second model was ready for production, the YC1, a 175cc single-cylinder two-stroke and in 1957, Yamaha began production of its first 250cc, two-stroke twin, the YD1. Based on Genichi’s firm belief that a product isn’t a product until it can hold its own around the world, in 1958 Yamaha became the first Japanese maker to venture into the international race arena. The result was an impressive 6th place in the Catalina Grand Prix race in the USA. News of this achievement won immediate recognition for the high level of Yamaha technology not only in Japan but among American race fans too – and this was just the beginning. Using the momentum gained in the USA, Yamaha took quick action and began marketing their motorcycles through an independent distributor in California. In 1958, Cooper Motors began selling the YD-1 250 and the MF-1 (a 50cc, two-stroke, single cylinder, step-through street bike). In 1960, the Yamaha International Corporation began selling motorcycles in the USA through dealers. Then in 1960, with overseas experiences under his belt, Genichi turned his attention to the Marine industry and the production of Yamaha’s first boats and marine engine. This began an aggressive expansion into new fields utilizing the new engines and FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) technologies. The first watercraft model was the CAT-21, followed by the RUN-13 and the P-7 123cc marine engine. The start of the 1st Asama Highland Race. The first trial-manufactured YA-1 along with its technical team. The 250cc YD-1 test ride from Hamamatsu to Tokyo in 1957. In 1963, Yamaha demonstrated its focus on cutting-edge technological innovations by developing the Autolube System. This landmark solution was a separate oil injection system for two-stroke models, eliminating the inconvenience of pre-mixing fuel and oil. Yamaha was building a strong reputation as a superior manufacturer, and this was reflected in its first project from its new plant in Iwata, Japan, built in 1966, where Toyota and Yamaha teamed up to produce the highly regarded Toyota 2000 GT sports car. This very limited-edition vehicle created a sensation among enthusiasts in Japan and abroad – and it’s still admired for its performance and craftsmanship today. Genichi: “I believe that the most important thing when building a product is to always keep in mind the standpoint of the people who will use it.“ An example of Yamaha’s commitment to “walking in the customers’ shoes” was the decision to continue its expansion with overseas motorcycle …

About Yamaha

ABOUT US Our Mission Ever since our founder, Genichi Kawakami, established Yamaha Motor in 1955, it has been our mission to give you Kando with our products and our services. What is Kando? Let us explain. Read More Our Foundation “I want to try to manufacture motorcycle engines.” It was from these words spoken by Genichi Kawakami (Yamaha Motor’s first President) in 1953, that today’s Yamaha Motor Company was born. Read More Yamaha in Europe We took on the challenge of competing in Europe – the historical home of motorsport. From then on, Yamaha’s motorcycle imports were handled by importers in each country throughout the continent. Read More

Our Mission

OUR MISSION Let us introduce you to Kando. Kando is a Japanese word to express the deep satisfaction and excitement you get when encountering something of exceptional value, quality, and performance. It’s a thrilling emotion that adds spice to your life and gets your Heart Revving! Ever since our founder, Genichi Kawakami, established Yamaha Motor in 1955, it’s been our mission to give you, as our valued customer, Kando through our products and our services. Our products and services have been designed and produced by Yamaha people who truly enjoy what they do, and their goal is to provide you with the very best experience possible. Whether you want to RACE faster, FEEL the passion of riding or find the best solution to MOVE smarter, we hope you find the Yamaha product and services that gives you the Kando experience.