Yamaha Motor and Volvo Penta Evaluating Further Collaboration

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and AB Volvo Penta have decided to set up joint working groups to evaluate the potential for deeper collaboration between the companies on February 17, 2011.

On December 6, 2010, Yamaha Motor and Volvo Penta announced that they had signed an agreement involving technological collaboration relating to the development of electronic control systems for boats. This collaboration is designed to produce technological synergies in the increasingly important field of electronics.
The collaboration became operational at the end of the year, but the parties have already decided to take things further and conduct joint studies on ways to further extend cooperation between the companies.

"Volvo Penta is a world leader when it comes to marine power systems. Yamaha Motor is a world leader in the outboard engine business. Our customer offerings complement one another, so we see tremendous potential for extending our cooperation with a view to creating the marine world's most powerful combination," said Volvo Penta's President and CEO, Goran Gummeson.

The collaboration between Yamaha Motor and Volvo Penta will not include ownership but is based exclusively on partnership in different areas in which the companies see opportunities for cooperation as a result of complementary customer offerings.
Yamaha Motor and Volvo Penta have already agreed on distribution cooperation for Volvo Penta's marine engines on the Japanese market and the parties will study if there are such opportunities for similar types of cooperation in other markets.
In North America, Yamaha Motor and Volvo Penta have already cooperated in search for opportunities in marketing to individual boat builders, and they will continue with related efforts.
Service, logistics and aftermarket are other areas in which the parties would like to look at opportunities for extended collaboration. Volvo Penta currently offers the marine world's most global service  and has a dealer network comprising 4,000 service points all over the world. Yamaha Motor is represented in more than 180 countries and regions worldwide.

The existing technological collaboration will result in the companies utilising common electronic platforms, thereby creating the potential for synergies in terms of diagnostic tools, skills, standardisation and aftermarket services.

"We hope that an extended partnership with Volvo Penta, in which we will benefit from the strengths of both companies, will enable us to create a long-term, competitive alliance with unique opportunities to tackle the challenges facing the marine industry," says Takaaki Kimura, Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Yamaha Motors' and Volvo Penta's joint working groups are expected to be appointed in February.

Yamaha Motor is a company that is manufacturing motorcycles, outboards, boats, personal watercraft, 4-wheel ATVs, snowmobiles, automotive engines, surface mounters, etc. Yamaha markets outboards ranging from 2 to 350 horsepower and offered in over 1,000 variations to suit the location, environment, intended usage and boat type. And Yamaha marine products are marketed in more than 180 nations in the world.

Volvo Penta, with some 4,000 dealers globally, is a world-leading and global manufacturer of engines and complete power systems for both marine and industrial applications. Volvo Penta's marine engine program includes diesel and gasoline engines with power outputs of between 10 and 900 hp. Volvo Penta is part of the Volvo Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications and aerospace components and services.
For more information, please visit www.volvopenta.com.