OREANDA-NEWS. Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 7272) announced today that it has begun production of golf cars at Thai Yamaha Motor (TYM). The company also manufactures motorcycles and outboard motors, and this initiative aims to increase cost-competitiveness of golf cars in the Asian region.

Golf car production at TYM will commence with the two-person electric powered YDRE, with the number of units produced to start from 4,000 in its first year. Production is expected to increase from here, ramping up to a scale of 10,000 units annually by 2018.

The number of golf players in Asia is increasing every year as incomes rise along with economic growth, and more new golf courses are being built. In the seven key markets of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, the demand for golf cars is currently around 10,000, and is expected to rise significantly. On another front, other than golf use, there is expectation that demand for golf-cars in airports and hotels, large-scale commercial facilities, and sight-seeing attractions etc. will also increase.

In addition to their annual 250,000 scale motorcycle production, TYM also started producing small-sized outboard motors from last year. The company now aims to expand sales in Asian countries with its extensive manufacturing experience of Yamaha quality, and its cost-competitiveness on both costs and supply lead-time fronts. There are also plans for export into Australia, the Middle-East and Africa.

Within the Yamaha Motor Group, Yamaha Motor Powered Products Co., Ltd. of Japan produces a total of four golf car models at around 10,000 units annually with its electromagnetic induction and gasoline-engine manual types, and other electric-powered golf cars. However, the Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America produces 60,000 units annually which include golf specific-use cars and other non-specific-use cars.