Thai Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (TYM), motorcycle manufacturing subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., opened the newly constructed Yamaha Riding Academy (YRA) training facility on the company’s grounds on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. The 84 million baht (approx. 280 million yen) facility is the Yamaha Motor group’s first permanent training facility outside of Japan, and is designed to promote riding safety on a region-wide scale.

The YRA facility occupies an area of 18,843 m2 with a training course complete with an S-shaped track section, a successive, 90-degree cornering “crank” section and a sand track to simulate a variety of riding situations. The facility also has a large meeting room with a seating capacity of 265, lecture rooms and a riding simulator room.

Thai government dignitaries including Suwit Khunkitti, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, joined Yamaha Motor president and CEO Takashi Kajikawa and TYM president Takahiko Goan at the facility’s opening ceremony.

Since 2004, there have been more than 70,000 motorcycle accidents annually in Thailand. For the last 25 years, TYM has been conducting ongoing motorcycle riding safety programs, and from 2005 the company has collaborated with the Thai Ministry of Transport to hold between 40 and 50 riding safety courses throughout the country each year. Furthermore, the company holds official riding tests for civil servants, and issues approval letters to participants who pass the test, certifying them as qualified riders. Holders of approval letters are entitled to receive a motorcycle rider’s license.

TYM will continue to strive to improve the quality of its riding safety programs by adopting the following four official YRA curriculums.

Riding Safety Course

This classroom and practical training course provides riding safety instruction for students and general license holders.

Instructor Training Course

This “Train the Trainer” course provides training for riding safety instructors from dealerships or other organizations such as driving schools.

License Training Course

This course provides both classroom and practical training to enable participants to take a test officiated by the traffic bureau and receive an approval letter that entitles them to receive a rider’s license.

Large Motorcycle Riding Safety Course

This classroom and practical course provides riding safety instruction for owners of large motorcycles.

TYM will use YRA courses in ongoing efforts to increase the number of participants in riding safety courses, while also training dealer instructors in Thailand and other parts of the ASEAN region as a means to spread riding safety at the grassroots level through dealer instructors.

Source: Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

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Consolidated business results

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) announced its consolidated business results for the first half-year ended June 30, 2008. Net sales decreased 6.6 percent from the same period of the previous year, to 869.1 billion yen, operating income fell 35.3 percent, to 46.7 billion yen, ordinary income declined 32.9%, to 51.2 billion yen, and net income reduced 47.9%, to 25.9 billion yen.

On the foreign exchange front, the average purchasing value of the yen against the U.S. dollar during the period under review appreciated by ten yen from the same period of the previous year, to 106 yen, and depreciated by eight yen against the euro, to 160 yen.

Broken down by business segment, motorcycle sales decreased 1.1 percent from the same period of previous year, to 561.9 billion yen, due to reduced sales in Europe, the United States and Japan, although sales in Asia including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and in Latin America including Brazil were favorable. Marine product sales declined 13.1 percent, to 143.2 billion yen, reflecting sluggish outboard motor and personal watercraft sales in the United States. Nevertheless, outboard motor sales in Asia (excluding Japan) and Latin America expanded substantially. Power product sales fell 21.5 percent, to 97.5 billion yen, due to a sales decline for all-terrain vehicles and other products in the United States. Sales in the “other products” segment dropped 9.5 percent, to 66.4 billion yen, in line with lower sales, especially for surface mounters.

Meanwhile, operating income decreased 14.7 percent, to 29.2 billion yen in the motorcycle segment; 46.3 percent, to 10.9 billion yen in the marine product segment; 70.1 percent, to 3.2 billion yen in the power product segment; and 50.8 percent, to 3.4 billion yen in the “other products” segment.

Positive factors affecting operating income include a decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses totaling 8.5 billion yen; cost reductions in purchasing operations totaling 4.4 billion yen; and a drop in research and development expenses totaling 0.6 billion yen. However, these positive factors were more than offset by the negative impact of fluctuations in foreign currency translation rates totaling 15.0 billion yen; hikes in raw material prices totaling 3.4 billion yen; an increase in depreciation expenses totaling 2.4 billion yen; a decline in gross profit due to decreased net sales totaling 1.5 billion yen; and the impact of a change in the product mix and related factors totaling 16.6 billion yen. As a result, operating income for the first half-year under review decreased from the same period of the previous year.

During the period under review, the Company added Yamaha Motor Argentina S.A. to its group of consolidated subsidiaries. This and other changes increased the number of consolidated subsidiaries by one from December 31, 2007, to 112 on June 30, 2008, while the number of companies accounted for by the equity method decreased by four, to 34.

Forecast business results for the full fiscal year

The Company has revised its forecast consolidated business results for the full fiscal year ending December 31, 2008, and now projects net sales of 1,720.0 billion yen (planned target of 1,830.0 billion yen announced on February 5, 2008; 1,756.7 billion yen in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 (fiscal 2007)); operating income of 78.0 billion yen (planned target of 103.0 billion yen; 127.0 billion yen in fiscal 2007); ordinary income of 92.0 billion yen (planned target of 110.0 billion yen; 140.3 billion yen in fiscal 2007); and net income of 45.0 billion yen (planned target of 59.0 billion yen; 71.2 billion yen in fiscal 2007).

These forecasts are based on the assumption that the U.S. dollar will trade at 105 yen during the period (an appreciation of 12 yen from fiscal 2007), and the euro at 158 yen (a depreciation of two yen from fiscal 2007).

Source: Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.

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Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces that an agreement has been reached for its consolidated group company Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS) to acquire the US maker of stainless steel outboard motor propellers, Precision Propeller, Inc. (PPI). Operations begin today under the new managerial arrangement that makes PPI a member of the Yamaha Motor group.

The purpose of this acquisition is to strengthen production capacity at PPI and ensure the high quality of the stainless steel propellers it supplies for Yamaha outboard motors. Until now, approximately half of the propellers produced by PPI have been supplied to Yamaha Motor, and making the company a part of the Yamaha Motor group will ensure a stable supply of these important performance parts and thus help strengthen the foundation for continued growth by the Yamaha Motor brand in the outboard motor market.

As part of the acquisition agreement, YMUS establishes a new company under the name Precision Propeller Industries, Inc. (the new PPI) and acquires the corporate assets necessary to carry on the corporate operations of the former PPI under new management.

Concerning the 70 employees of the existing PPI, provisions are made for them to continue to be employed by the new PPI.

Under the Yamaha Motor company medium-term management plan covering the fiscal years 2008 to 2010, strengthening the outboard motor lineup in the mid- to large-size model range and increasing profitability by expanding sales of 4-stroke outboard models have been set as business priorities. The acquisition of PPI is part of these efforts to strengthen product value in Yamaha’s outboard motor business. Source: Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.

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Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces the completion of a new cast wheel production facility in the premises of Yamaha Motor Parts Manufacturing Vietnam Co., Ltd. (YPMV) in response to the growing demand for cast motorcycle wheels in the ASEAN region. Transition to the new facility will be completed and manufacturing will begin in September 2008.

YPMV’s new specialized cast wheel production facility features three die casting machines that will operate as part of a comprehensive casting, processing and painting production process with the capacity to turn out 600,000 cast wheels annually. The investment for the construction and outfitting of the new facility and subsequent transfer of production is approximately 1.5 billion yen.

Cast wheels have become the mainstream wheels of choice for motorcycles in advanced markets due to their advantages in design freedom, processing ease and cost performance. In the ASEAN region with its growing motorcycle demand, there is also an increasing preference for cast wheels as opposed to conventional spoke wheels that have been predominant in the region. As evidence of this trend, the percentage of Yamaha motorcycles fitted with cast wheels has grown from 13% in 2004 to 44% in 2007 in the five ASEAN nations of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Yamaha Motor has met this demand thus far with cast wheels produced at PT. Yamaha Motor Parts Manufacturing Indonesia (YPMI) and wheels from external makers. Plans call for the cast wheels produced at the new YPMV facility to be supplied to Yamaha Motor Vietnam Co., Ltd., the Yamaha Motor group manufacturing company in Vietnam, as well as to group bases in Thailand and the Philippines.

In the company’s current, three-year medium-term management plan covering the period from 2008 to 2010, the ASEAN market is designated as a growth market for which the group will be aggressively investing corporate resources to “introduce attractive new products,” implemet aggressive promotions,” “strengthen sales networks” and “expand production capacities.” The aim of these activities is to increase motorcycle unit sales to 4.3 million units annually by 2010, a 50% increase from 2007.

Source: Yamaha Motors Co. Ltd.

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Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.’s marine engine development and manufacturing subsidiary, Yamaha Marine Co., Ltd, opened the Yamaha Marine Fukuroi plant, transferring the first of a series of Yamaha Marine assembly lines to the newly constructed factory in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The shift in recent years from 2-stroke to 4-stroke outboard motors, and the overall increase in motor and component size as well as the number of parts per motor, has increasingly put pressure on production, resulting in congestion in the manufacturing system. The relocation of assembly lines to the new Fukuroi Plant will enable a reorganization of the manufacturing procedures and improvements in distribution operations and safety systems.

The introduction of new manufacturing processes such as robotic automation of painting processes and adoption of module-type manufacturing will further increase the productivity of operations and product quality. The use of natural lighting, introduction of water circulation (reuse, recycling) systems and other measures have been adopted in terms of environmental measures.

The opening ceremony was attended by approximately 50 dignitaries and guests including the Mayor of Fukuroi, Mr. Hideyuki Harada, the President of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., Mr. Takashi Kajikawa, and the President of Yamaha Marine Co., Ltd., Mr. Shohei Kato. After a ceremonial prayer for safety, a tape cutting was held to commemorate the start of operations on the first of the assembly lines moved to this new facility from Yamaha Marine’s head factory.

Following this move of the first assembly line to the Fukuroi Plant, plans call for the remaining lines at the Yamaha Marine head factory to be moved to the Fukuroi facility by the summer of 2009.

Source: Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.

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