Yamaha Motor Co., has announced that effective July 1, it has moved its global headquarters for its snowmobile operations to Toronto from Japan in order to focus more of the ever growing North American Market. Yamaha recently took a similar approach with its ATV and side-by-side operations, now headquartered globally in Georgia.
The new North American Snowmobile Division will take the lead in managing Yamaha’s worldwide snowmobile business, including product development, business planning and marketing. The objective is to bring greater focus to North America by increasing speed of product development, improving coordination and efficiencies with industry partners, and bettering research and product planning decisions due to closer proximity to the market, Yamaha said.
Headquartered in Toronto, the division is comprised of Canadian and U.S.-based employees to remain highly focused on both major markets. In addition, Yamaha will increase investment in North American-based engineering, research and design.
“For the last few years, Yamaha Motor U.S. and Yamaha Motor Canada have been taking on additional responsibility for the snowmobile market,” said Peter Smallman-Tew, North American team leader. “Yamaha Motor Co. has been encouraged with our progress, and we are excited to accept this new challenge. We are confident that these changes will help us serve our North American dealers and customers better.”
As a result of these changes, the daily snowmobile operations performed at Yamaha Motor USA’s Lakeview branch office in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, will be transitioned to Toronto; Minocqua, Wisconsin; and Kennesaw, Georgia.
The Yamaha North American Snowmobile Division is busily preparing for the arrival of the first Sidewinder series of snowmobiles, the most powerful snowmobiles ever released. In addition, the upcoming 2017 season will also welcome Yamaha’s 50th anniversary for the 2018 model year.
