Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co. recently claimed that its Japanese parent is expected to increase investment in Taiwan and further expand production of motor scooters for export to Japan.

One of the world's top makers of scooters and motorcycles, Yamaha operates numerous powered two-wheeler (PTW) production plants in the Asia-Pacific region, including facilities in Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Yamaha Taiwan, however, is the only overseas plant in Asia to directly export scooters to Japan.

Yamaha Taiwan also expects to begin exporting 250cc all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to the United States this year.

According to Yamaha Taiwan president Matsuo Mitsuaki, the Taiwan subsidiary is playing an increasingly important role in Yamaha's global-supply scheme. It has also become Yamaha's global R&D and production base for under-150cc scooters.

Last year, Yamaha Taiwan exported about 110,000 scooters, including some 90,000 units to Japan and the rest to Europe. This year, the local subsidiary is expected to ship 140,000 scooters to foreign markets, a record high, including about 110,000 units to Japan, Europe, the U.S. and Southeast Asia.

In recognition of its strong PTW engine development capability, Yamaha Taiwan is commissioned to export 250cc ATV engines to the U.S. market this year and will have more chances to become the supply center of even-bigger PTW or ATV engines in the future with Yamaha Japan, according to Mitsuaki

Currently, Yamaha Taiwan has two PTW plants on the island, including one in Chungli County and another in Hsinchu County. The two plants have a combined annual capacity of about 400,00 PTWs. They are expected to produce about 350,000 PTWs this year, with volume forecast to rise in the coming few years.

According to Mitsuaki, Yamaha Taiwan will continue to upgrade its R&D and manufacturing capability and develop export sales to elevate its sales volume in Taiwan, already a mature market with annual sales volume of about 650,000 PTWs.

Central to Yamaha Taiwan's expansion plans has been winning the chance to export ATV engines to the U.S. The local subsidiary is also expected to become an important production base of ATVs and other recreational/utility vehicle models in the future.

Global Role

In the near future, Mitsuaki says, Yamaha aims to elevate its scooter export volume to Japan to over 200,000 units. In the domestic market, Yamaha Taiwan also expects to develop a more competitive and comprehensive product line to jump to the top or second place position, ending its long third-place ranking behind Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd. (KYMCO brand) and Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd. (SYM).

Though annual PTW sales in Taiwan have declining from a peak of about one million units in 1994 to about 650,000 units now, Mitsuaki says his company is still confident of gaining a higher share of the domestic market.

Since he took the helm as president at Yamaha Taiwan in late 2001, Mitsuaki says that he has been trying to improve the manufacturing quality, cost-cutting capability and delivery period of the local subsidiary. These efforts have made Yamaha Taiwan's PTW models more competitive in the domestic market and helped the brand escape its high price image.

Yamaha Taiwan enjoyed second-place ranking in the domestic market during several months last year and it enjoyed the highest annual sales volume growth rate among all local rivals.

Still, the company is not about to rest on past success. "There will always be higher goals to reach before we become a real international PTW maker," claims Mitsuaki.

In fact, one of the biggest challenges may come from within Yamaha's own ranks. Mitsuaki notes that Yamaha Taiwan has to compete with 35 other affiliates for ATV and recreational/utility vehicle production opportunities, and all decisions are made by the Japanese headquarters.