Yesterday, Yamaha Motor announced some major structural reforms to its outdoor land vehicle (OLV) business, which includes ATVs, ROVs and golf cars.
The company will cease in-house production of recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs), more commonly known as side-by-sides, at Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America in Newnan, Georgia. Yamaha said it is transitioning to a collaborative business model that will rely on OEM supply through partner companies, but hasn't provided additional details.
The company plans to move management resources to its ATV and golf car business, hoping to raise profitability of the entire OLV segment.
Until now, Yamaha Motor's side-by-side products primarily served the recreational segment. The company's shift to a collaborative model is expected to retain its presence in the space and strengthen its offerings in the utility segment.
As part of the "sweeping" changes, Yamaha Motor will review its global workforce. The company intends to implement workforce adjustments for about 300 positions, which includes a reduction of some 200 full-time positions and making changes to temporary staff. The company will also make unspecified changes in development, sales and manufacturing.
But not all is lost in Georgia, as Yamaha Motor will use the old side-by-side production space for assembly and logistics for its golf car business.
Finally, the company plans to reduce material costs and improve procurement efficiency by reviewing its supplier portfolio, increasing parts commonality and exploring joint procurement initiatives.
The company expects to take a 12 billion yen hit (about $76 million U.S.) in one-time expenses in its fiscal 2026 business. The main expenses include costs related to job cuts, inventory disposal, supplier-related costs and impairment losses.
Yamaha Motor said these measures will improve earnings in fiscal 2027 and return the OLV business to profitability by fiscal 2028.
President & CEO Motofumi Shitara said the first half of fiscal 2026 brought Yamaha Motor higher revenue from increased sales across nearly all businesses, led by the motorcycle business. The company recorded its highest numbers ever for revenue (up 17%, the equivalent of ~$1.4 billion USD), operating profit (up 86.6%) and net profit (up 114.7%) for six months.
While U.S. tariffs and higher procurement costs impacted the business, higher unit sales, reduced expenses and other factors raised year-on-year profits.
Yamaha Motor sold a lot of motorcycles, e-bikes, ATVs, watercraft and industrial robots, but got off track when it came to side-by-sides. Keep an eye on golf cars as well. Right now, the company is retooling in Georgia to tee-up its golf car business. Still, demand for the segment as a whole fell, and Yamaha was hurt by declining sales paired with higher R&D costs and U.S. tariffs.
The company stressed that it remains committed to the U.S. market. Earlier this year, it announced plans to relocate its headquarters from Southern California to suburban Atlanta.
IEN reached out to Yamaha and officials in Newnan, none of whom immediately responded to our request for comment.
