Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America (YMMC) and Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS), have reached a historic manufacturing milestone recently surpassing the completion of 3 million vehicles at the U.S. manufacturing facility in Newnan, Georgia.
The historic 3 millionth unit was a Grizzly 700 ATV, one of the best selling utility 4×4 ATVs of all time, and it was completed in late December 2014. Yamaha held a celebration at the Newnan factory on January 23, 2015, to recognize this significant milestone and thank the company’s employees for their dedication to producing the highest quality vehicles. Among the vehicles produced at YMMC are ATVs, Side-by-Side (SxS) vehicles, Golf Cars and Personal Watercraft.
YMMC is Yamaha’s worldwide hub of off-highway vehicle (OHV) manufacturing where all of the company’s ATV and SxS vehicles are produced for national and international distribution. The YMMC facility covers 280 acres with more than 1.3 million square feet of manufacturing facilities giving it a massive physical footprint in Newnan. It has seen growth in recent years as the company has completed an ATV production transfer and ramped up an expanding, dedicated SxS production plant.
“Yamaha has invested more than $250 million into U.S. manufacturing over the past 15 years creating a world-class facility in Newnan,” said Mike Chrzanowski, executive vice president of YMMC, who attended the January 23 event. “Whether it be ATV or Side-by-Side vehicles, Golf Cars or Personal Watercraft, YMMC strives to maintain the highest production quality and environmental standards, while giving back to the community through comprehensive corporate social responsibility programs.”
Between the YMMC facility and YMUS corporate offices in Kennesaw, Georgia, Yamaha now employs approximately 2,040 people in the state of Georgia – more than half of the 3,644 people the company directly employs in the United States. These numbers have grown significantly since 2011 when Yamaha employed approximately 1,300 and 2,800 people, respectively.
“Yamaha continues to add personnel and strengthen operations in Georgia as the Side-by-Side line expands with popular new models like the recently announced Wolverine R-Spec Side-by-Side,” said Mike Martinez, YMUS vice president of Recreational Vehicle (RV) operations, which is based in Kennesaw. “Yamaha is planning for future growth as we continue to increase SxS production and prepare for additional models and increased customer demand in the future.”
Yamaha’s increasing business and production impact in Georgia and throughout the United States have been felt in recent years. YMMC alone employs nearly 1,500 people at the factory – up almost 400 since the ATV production transfer began in 2011 – with plans to add another 150 jobs in 2015 to help support continued growth including increased Side-by-Side vehicle production.
