OEM Agreement Between Yamaha & Textron

[SumpBuster]

I have two Yamaha sleds in my garage, I will keep them and remember Yamaha for what it was and hope that they will be again. Either way I win! The Apex will run like new for the next 10,000 plus miles and stay together while doing it! Textron can do what they will with Catamaha I would not miss a rebadged Cat! I have no more then a curiosity of the cat brand and see no real reason to switch to it! When Yamaha comes out of LA LA Land and builds something matching their former quality, and ingenuity I'll take notice! When it takes them 5 years to build a skid and an engine I'll be out of sledding long before they ever build a sled again. Thankfully the Apex was built to last, so this fat old man can keep riding till he drops! Long live Yamaha!

I agree...I'll ride anything...revs, xps bulkhead crackers, cats, since I love it, I can adapt to what the sled wants to do, and adjust the rest. Not a fan of rider forward, but I can deal with it. My apex is the best it's ever been, with susp. mods, high wrp seat, slim Jims curves, hygear, blah blah blah...just a great all around sled, bar none. Turn key, red light out. SMILE.

 

[whitedust1]

Sadly 2laps is correct. Yamaha had the chance to buy Cat just same as Textron did and they didn't do it. Now Textron is fully utilizing everything other than the headquarters which was leased anyway and the name which is still on the sleds. There is nothing left to buy. Textron got a good deal and Yamaha missed the chance.

Yamaha would never purchase the whole AC pie to duplicte what they already have that was never going to happen even after death bone picking the interest is limited only to snow biz. It is simple to me now...buy the snow biz from Textron, Yamaha goes it alone, limted term as is Textron/Yamaha OEM Agreement, Yamaha no longer sells rebranded sleds and is just an OEM engine builder. Yamaha will never ever put their name on any AC built 2s engine lol...That would never ever happen their reputation to the world would be at stake and a huge risk. As someone else said the market has 3 OEMS now and the duplicate rebranded sled market will dry up very soon. Yamaha could continue a limited build Dbox II from Japan but said no to that. Not too many other ways to spin any of this that makes biz sense to either Textron or Yamaha.

 

[STAIN]

Textron bought A/C for their dealer network, why would they sell it off?????

 

[whitedust1]

Textron bought A/C for their dealer network, why would they sell it off?????

Dealers have to resign with new owner or no change if sales outlet functions stay the same. It's about the purchase formate and buy what you want make the appropriate offer. Yamaha is not concerned about sled dealers and many would not be able to afford the Yamaha floor plan anyway. The sled dealers the least of value to Yamaha little to no value at all. Come on we are talking about Yamaha what they want to if they choose to buy anything from Textron. Yamaha may want the AC sled division or just the rights to take over the products mfg where ever they choose in USA would be most attractive to Yamaha. To me Textron not sure how they want to handle sleds just not what they wanted to buy from AC. I think Yamaha can and will buy the sled division in some form from Textron. I'm sure Textron wants to sell the entire division not bits and pieces and Yamaha only wants 4s chassis. They will never put the Yamaha name on an AC built engine ever. Again look it from what value is there in a AC purchase to Yamaha? Textron has what they wanted to buy and has nothing to do with snow biz so their logic is to move on with core biz sell off or eliminate what they don't want. No time better than now to sell sled division to Yamaha in some form. Major problem for Textron is breaking 2s off from 4s big internal struggle for sure until it is done.

 

[cannondale27]

Dealers have to resign with new owner or no change if sales outlet functions stay the same. It's about the purchase formate and buy what you want make the appropriate offer. Yamaha is not concerned about sled dealers and many would not be able to afford the Yamaha floor plan anyway. The sled dealers the least of value to Yamaha little to no value at all. Come on we are talking about Yamaha what they want to if they choose to buy anything from Textron. Yamaha may want the AC sled division or just the rights to take over the products mfg where ever they choose in USA would be most attractive to Yamaha. To me Textron not sure how they want to handle sleds just not what they wanted to buy from AC. I think Yamaha can and will buy the sled division in some form from Textron. I'm sure Textron wants to sell the entire division not bits and pieces and Yamaha only wants 4s chassis. They will never put the Yamaha name on an AC built engine ever. Again look it from what value is there in a AC purchase to Yamaha? Textron has what they wanted to buy and has nothing to do with snow biz so their logic is to move on with core biz sell off or eliminate what they don't want. No time better than now to sell sled division to Yamaha in some form. Major problem for Textron is breaking 2s off from 4s big internal struggle for sure until it is done.

Then you would have to ask what would Yamaha be buying from Textron if they were looking to buy the Snowmobile division of AC? Unless there is all future designs included in deal there is nothing other than a very old Cat Chassis and the Name. Not worth the trouble. The opportunity was a North American sled manufacturing plant and a great group of people running it. Textron got all that. If anything I see the AC snow separating from Textron and Going it alone. Maybe with Yamahas help but probably not. They did it before when Cat went belly up and could start over again.

 

[super1c]

Yamaha, arctic cat, and textron all know what they are doing. All these decisions that are being speculated about were made YEARS ago by people way out of our pay grade. This agreement and buyout are not small things to these corporate giants. Things like this don't just happen overnight in the corporate world. We will be let in slowly piece by piece. They have shareholders to keep happy and don't want any panic in the market. Let's just sit back and enjoy the ride as We have no say or control over this!

 

[whitedust1]

Then you would have to ask what would Yamaha be buying from Textron if they were looking to buy the Snowmobile division of AC? Unless there is all future designs included in deal there is nothing other than a very old Cat Chassis and the Name. Not worth the trouble. The opportunity was a North American sled manufacturing plant and a great group of people running it. Textron got all that. If anything I see the AC snow separating from Textron and Going it alone. Maybe with Yamahas help but probably not. They did it before when Cat went belly up and could start over again.

Highly unlikely AC would buy themselves from Textron and try and compete with Giants like Yamaha,Polaris and BRP as that didn't end well twice. Best options are short term as is OEM agreement, all or some snow biz sale to Yamaha or Textron separates from Yamaha only buys 4s engines. Yamaha signs short term as OEM Agreement, buys some of AC snow biz or only sells engines to OEMs. Not much else makes financial sense to either party. Textron will put it out there soon for Yamaha to respond. If it was me I would support a limited build updated Yamaha product line from Japan for at least a few more years. Something has to give on duplicate product lines makes no long term market sense.

 

[stevewithOCD]

Yamaha, arctic cat, and textron all know what they are doing. All these decisions that are being speculated about were made YEARS ago by people way out of our pay grade. This agreement and buyout are not small things to these corporate giants. Things like this don't just happen overnight in the corporate world. We will be let in slowly piece by piece. They have shareholders to keep happy and don't want any panic in the market. Let's just sit back and enjoy the ride as We have no say or control over this!

GOOD point. We can't do anything about it, but it sure is fun to talk about!

 

[whitedust1]

Yamaha, arctic cat, and textron all know what they are doing. All these decisions that are being speculated about were made YEARS ago by people way out of our pay grade. This agreement and buyout are not small things to these corporate giants. Things like this don't just happen overnight in the corporate world. We will be let in slowly piece by piece. They have shareholders to keep happy and don't want any panic in the market. Let's just sit back and enjoy the ride as We have no say or control over this!

Acquisition is not difficult for these large corporations as they have acquisition teams on staff to buy new technology or acquire other companies that add value to their technical and or market position. Since I was on my companies OEM team I would see the CEOs that I sold OEM products come and visit our CEO. I knew exactly what was up because I knew the people on both sides. To others these people were just plant visitors no idea who they were...lol. Eventually I would hear specifics from both sides & see the divide close to OEM Agreement or acquisition. In this case just 2 entities Yamaha & Textron, AC is a brand specifically the snow division that is of interest to Yamaha. What has to happen is simple really once a buy directive comes form the top the lawyers draw up an acquisition agreement and the detailed legalese is begun and rarely breaks down. To me at this point both Textron and Yamaha are weighing options regarding the futures of their snow divisions both are conflicted and neither sees snowmobiles as a growing profitable business. Plain and simple Yamaha needs to spend money to remain in the market very easy for Yamaha to drop out of sled building been coasting for years using up parts. It will be difficult for Textron to sell anything to a party that won't spend money and only one possible buyer Yamaha.

 

[vodoo child]

We'll I guess I'll be the Debbie Downer here! I see nothing good coming out of the Textron purchase of Cat for the sled divisions of Cat and Yamaha. I for one never had a warm fuzzy feeling about the 5yr OEM agreement between Cat and Yamaha and feel that the Yamaha sled division has been phoning it in ever since! I think the sled divisions and future profits of sleds are very low on the radar for both Textron and Yamaha and there futures are all ready set. Textron got what they wanted out of Cat on the dirt side, I think they'll let the sled side limp along a few more years then pull the plug! I see the bare minimum of investment from Yamaha in there sled division. And since Yamaha hitched there wagon to Cat, what happens to one happens to the other! In corporations of this size it always comes down to dollars and cents and ROI! The big wigs can give there speeches, power point presentations and babble on about brand loyalty and satisfied customer's and spin it anyway they like! But at the end of the day, it's the bureaucrats /bean counters that always get the final say. But hey, what the hell do I know! Remember ""ALL IS WELL""!!!!!!

 

[super1c]

We'll I guess I'll be the Debbie Downer here! I see nothing good coming out of the Textron purchase of Cat for the sled divisions of Cat and Yamaha. I for one never had a warm fuzzy feeling about the 5yr OEM agreement between Cat and Yamaha and feel that the Yamaha sled division has been phoning it in ever since! I think the sled divisions and future profits of sleds are very low on the radar for both Textron and Yamaha and there futures are all ready set. Textron got what they wanted out of Cat on the dirt side, I think they'll let the sled side limp along a few more years then pull the plug! I see the bare minimum of investment from Yamaha in there sled division. And since Yamaha hitched there wagon to Cat, what happens to one happens to the other! In corporations of this size it always comes down to dollars and cents and ROI! The big wigs can give there speeches, power point presentations and babble on about brand loyalty and satisfied customer's and spin it anyway they like! But at the end of the day, it's the bureaucrats /bean counters that always get the final say. But hey, what the hell do I know! Remember ""ALL IS WELL""!!!!!!

"ALL IS WELL" No ones gonna die over this that's for sure!

 

[twyztid]

It would be a sad day if the only choices are Skidoo or Polaris. I better start building a stockpile of rebuild parts for my Apex. LOL

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[vodoo child]

It would be a sad day if the only choices are Skidoo or Polaris. I better start building a stockpile of rebuild parts for my Apex. LOL
I think that day is approaching sooner than then we realise!
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[cannondale27]

I guess at this point we need to root for Cat Snowmobiles and their success. Has to be very significant that the sled division kept the AC name. I have never seen the Cat factory. I wonder is one facility dedicated to just sleds?

 

[vodoo child]

It would be a sad day if the only choices are Skidoo or Polaris. I better start building a stockpile of rebuild parts for my Apex. LOL
I think that day is approaching sooner than then we realise!
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