Ask the Editors: Is Yamaha Pulling Out The Snowmobile Industry?
End of an era.
Unfortunately, these rumors are indeed true. In a statement released from Yamaha itself, it appears they will pull the plug in stages – Sales of snowmobiles will terminate in Japan through the 2022 model year, in Europe through the 2024 model year and in North America through the 2025 model year.
Production of the recently introduced 2024 models is still underway and scheduled for fall delivery here in North America.
While they don’t really give a specific reason for the decision, the press release (below) does state that the market has been shifting and the move away from the snowmobile sector will better allow them to focus their resources on the remaining segments. In other words, and in answer to part of your question, this isn’t bad news for the ATV and SxS markets at all, in fact quite the opposite. It will free up more company resources to dedicate to them.
Yamaha has been making snowmobiles since 1968 and has a very storied history in the industry and many impressive championships along the way. We’re sad to see the tradition come to a close as well.
Here is the official press release on the subject:
Over the past 55 years, Yamaha developed snowmobiles for sports, leisure, and business use as a means of transportation, mainly in snowy areas found in North America and Europe. Yamaha also aimed to grow the business through the early introduction of environmentally-friendly 4-stroke models and alliances with other companies. However, the company says it has been a challenge to reach a sustainable business model in the snowmobile market.
Going forward, Yamaha will concentrate management resources on current business activities and new growth markets.
According to Bryan Hudgin, director of marketing and brand development for Yamaha Canada, Yamaha Japan made this decision to focus on high-volume product groups and increase investment in identified growth markets. “When it comes to a global scale, it’s something that Yamaha Motor Corporation is looking at constantly – whether or not the volume there that is required and the growth in the market – and if the industry is big enough to continue. [Yamaha] has decided to focus more attention on current industries where we’ve got more success and invest in identified growth markets.”
Yamaha will ensure parts availability, service, and related customer satisfaction now and after the snowmobile final production run occurs.
Hudgin and his team spoke with dealers before the news was released to the media. “What’s clear to us is that each of our dealer’s businesses is unique. For some dealers, snowmobiles are about 5 to 10 percent of their business; for other dealers, it’s 50 to 60 percent, so we’re working with them over the course of the next two to three years to make sure we can continue our relationship with them. But each one is unique, and we’ve got to work with each of them individually to make sure we’re putting them in the best status as well as ourselves to move forward.”
Production of the recently introduced 2024 models is underway and scheduled for fall delivery. Yamaha distributors will be working closely with dealers to minimize impact and best position their business over the next 12 – 36 months.
“We do want to make the next two years a celebration of our snowmobiles,” says Hudgin. “We want to thank our snowmobile customers and talk about some of the great innovations that Yamaha brought to market for more than 50 years of Yamaha snowmobiles.”
Due to the exit schedule, the effect on consolidated business results is expected to be minor.
