2lapsdown
Expert
Rigid is 100% correct.....Yamaha is an engine supplier. The rebranded AC sleds will all come out of TRF. There is no more Yami in houseR and D. That stopped YEARS ago. Sucks but it is what it is.
Or maybe the move to Minoqua which is r&d will increase r&d. Seems to me that Sidewinder has even more Yamaha parts and input than the Viper did. Somebody did r&d on the new Yamaha clutches,ecu etc. It wasn't cat.
2lapsdown
Expert
That is just silly....and you know it.
No. You said r&d stopped years ago. Obviously thats not true at least on the whole engine package including the clutches,ecu intake and part of exhaust. Drivetrain also had Yamaha involvement. If you are saying chassis then you may be right. They have to be doing something in Minoqua though or they would have just shut it down.
2lapsdown
Expert
It is over ...they are engine suppliers. Minoqua is a joke and has been for years. Yamaha played the game to make everyone feel that they are still in the game. I'm not going to sit and argue with you. Corporate Japan made the call....don't blame me
I agree with you. Till Corporate digs out some pocket change and just buys AC they are engine suppliers right now.
2lapsdown
Expert
You just need to stop with the Yamaha buying AC, not going to happen. Yami is out of the sled game. But they do sell the rebranded AC models. This has been in the works for years....Sucks, but it is what it is.
I just get a kick out of that. At what point is it a AC or a Yamaha? With the Viper engine,clutching, chaincase changes and abandoning Cats TCL where about only Yamaha parts. Now with the Sidewinder it's about everything other than the suspension and tunnel that were made to work with the Yamaha turbo engine. I see more Yamaha content in a Sidewinder than Cat only difference is its not made in Japan and that's a good thing for USA. But however you see it as long as it works well we all win. As long as this alliance goes on I will always push for Yamaha to buy Cat not important as long as things go well as past but would really go well with us Yamaha guys.
uprider800
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2016
- Messages
- 262
- Age
- 16
- Location
- winneconne wi
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- Arctic Cat xf 9000
Has anyone really looked at the Arctic Cat lineup. It's a laugh. They are selling a almost 10 yr old 800 mill and a 600. Ever since yamaha has come around they are having more and more influence. My guess is that we will see this partnership for a while but if Cat sales don't improve I could see Yamaha taking over. I listened to the podcast that was posted on here a few days ago and it seems the difference in money exchange between Japan and US has a huge bearing on what gets released. Now if all manufacturing and headquarters is in North America maybe this will no longer be a problem. Yamaha was dead in the SxS market for almost 10 yrs and now they are bringing some bad a.. Stuff to market and all is US based. I bet more Sidewinders are sold than Thundercats. This should tell you something. Yamaha is far from dead in the snowmobile market and more likely just going about it a different way. In my opinion Cat is the company that is hanging on by a thread and it might be Yamaha that is there to pick up the pieces.
excallibur101
Pro
In my own opinion,both Yamaha and Cat have both benefited well with this agreement they have shared in terms of sales and market share.Since the introduction of the Viper and now the Sidewinder which has been in the works for a few years now,this venture really changed things in the snowmobile industry that allowed both companies to greatly benefit.Let's face it,since this joint venture started back in 2014 the hype created from this really shook up the snowmobile industry and both have capitalized greatly with each manufacturer putting in their own DNA in the machines allowing for improvements along the way with both companies engineering involved they have now leveraged the sled market so greatly that these new machines are now the kingpins on the trail,so they must know their doing something right in that direction.Yamaha is a huge company and they did not get this way from making mistakes.Is is possible for Yamaha to buy out Cat,most definitely, will they do it ? I doubt it,they will buy into it possibly but only to capitalize on their investment to improve sales and to benefit from both sides engineering and availability for them to manufacture in the USA without the additional costs overseas and the fact of the tsunami that occurred in Japan a while back.Yamaha has full leverage now and using it.
excallibur101
Pro
As we all know since this venture started with both companies involvement, they have been improving and the talk going around is they are basically dominating the sled market and that has been enhanced further now with the new models of the Sidewinder and now the Cat Thundercat and they are both confusing to further model options to make them more appealing to different riders likings.
rtx moose
VIP Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2014
- Messages
- 1,141
- Age
- 52
- Location
- WATERTOWN,MN
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2017 sidewinder LTX LE,2007 RTX,2000 SRX700
WELL ,you guys need to understand japan makes alot of sleds that are not even in the north american market!!!you really think they will just shut'r down..the russian market is very strong too!!its not just about the US to them...pull your head out of your backside guys!!! Cant wait for 50th anniversary
Last edited by a moderator:
Yamaha is still manufacturing sleds in Japan and will do so until they say they are not. All this speculation and these opinions will not change this. Period
.
.
Marty, you would be surprised how few sleds Yamaha actually sells. I was shocked at how small their market share is. In 2015 it was well under 5000 worldwide and 2016 saw a big decline in sales down to roughly 126,000 from 150,000 for all manufacturers with yamaha holding about a 3% market share. Canada and US account for 2/3 rds of the worlds snowmobile sales. After doing a little research on the topic i can fully understand how they would want to move the snowmobile division to North America and wouldn't be a bit surprised to here that Japan would shut it down in the near future. I hope the hell they don't because i think that the quality is unmatched and it's not even a close second!
kviper
VIP Member
Any one want to bet a lobster dinner that yamaha is staying in the sled business? I like lobster!!!
