In February of 1998, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (YMC) established Yamaha Motor Asia Pte. Ltd. as a 100%-owned subsidiary for the purpose of providing financial support for Yamaha manufacturing bases in the AESAN region and promoting the cross-trade export of their products.

Now, as a measure to further strengthen the market competitiveness of Yamaha motorcycle operations in the region, a new company has been established in Thailand to function in the areas of planning and developing motorcycles and coordinating manufacturing and purchasing operations for the entire Asian region. With the recent granting of official approval from the Thai government, this new company begins operations as of April 1, 2001.

The name of the new company is Yamaha Motor Asian Center Co., Ltd. and it is capitalized 100% by YMAP. From now on these two companies will share in a division of functions for the coordination of operations of the various motorcycle-related manufacturing bases in the Asian region, centering around the ASEAN countries.

The primary business activities of the new company YMAC will be the promotion of motorcycle product planning and development consigned by YMC for Yamaha motorcycle models specifically for the Asian markets, and the coordination of manufacturing activities by the various manufacturing bases in the Asian region. Also, YMAC will take over from YMAP the consolidated purchasing within the region of things like parts and raw materials, and the order taking and issuing functions involving parts suppliers in overseas procurement.