Yamaha is officially withdrawing from the ebike and performance eMTB market in the USA from the end of this year, at least from the retail side. What that means is that your local Yamaha dealer shop in the US will be selling out whatever inventory of ebikes they have in stock – at heavily discounted prices, no less. But there won’t be any more new ebikes coming in. Yamaha USA does say they’ll still honor their extra-long warranties. But it seems the ‘ebikes in motorcycle shops’ business model just wasn’t cutting it in the US. We’ll have to wait and see what this means on a more global scale.
Yamaha withdraws from the US retail ebike market
Over the weekend we started hearing that Yamaha Motor Corporation USA – the American parent brand behind everything from Yamaha motorcycles, ATVs, golf carts, boat motors to Yamaha Power Assist Bicycles (aka ebikes) – has been informing their dealers that they are getting out of selling their own ebikes. Reddit’s r/Yamahaebikes shared an official letter sent out to dealer shops.
Apparently, after 6 years of selling ebikes through some motorcycle and some independent bike shops, including the boom & a post-COVID bust in ebike sales, the numbers just weren’t adding up. It seems Yamaha just couldn’t compete with mix of low-cost online direct sales or more established high-end eMTB sales through traditional bikeshops. So, they’re putting a stop to dealer ebike sales in the US once the current 60%-off, cashback & extended 5-year warranty of their ‘Fan Promotion’ sales clear out all the US ebike inventory.
Yamaha USA also assures that they’ll keep providing spare parts, service & customer service support flowing to keep everyone who’s bought a Yamaha ebike pedaling through their full 5-year warranty.
Possible global & OEM impacts?
Now, as to the broader impacts of this pull-out, we know a bit less.
Should we expect a similar fate to impact Yamaha ebikes in motorcycle shops more globally?
We’ve asked both our US & European Yamaha ebike contacts. And so far have only heard back from the Americans who couldn’t speak to broader impacts, but could only reiterate that “current customers can rest assured that Yamaha will continue with parts and warranty service” to keep their ebikes going.
While the same ‘ebike vs. moto vs. bike dealer’ argument could be a bigger issue globally. We’d guess that, is unlikely to have any further-reaching direct impact on Yamaha ebike Systems themselves. Yamaha has been manufacturing ebike motors since 1993. They celebrated their 30th anniversary of Power Assist System ebike motors with a special edition YDX Moro 07 last year. And we still see them in the broader OEM ebike motor market as competition to the likes of Bosch and Shimano. It’s true that we see fewer ebike brands directly spec’ing Yamaha motors as we did in the recent past from BH, Ghost, Lapierre & more. But Giant & Liv still prominently use Yamaha SyncDrive motors in their premium eMTBs.
Full text of Yamaha letter to ebike dealers via Reddit:
YAMAHA MOTOR CORPORATION, U.S.A.
Dear Yamaha eBike Dealer,
We want to thank you for your partnership and for your business in purchasing and retailing Yamaha eBikes, and for proudly representing the Yamaha brand. However, as you know, the combination of a post-COVID oversupply within the entire bicycle industry, coupled with a significant softening of the market, has resulted in a particularly challenging business environment where it is extremely difficult to achieve a sustainable business model. Given these market conditions, we regret to inform you that Yamaha has made the difficult decision to withdraw from the U.S. eBike business and cease wholesaling units effective the end of this year.
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS) entered the U.S. eBike market in 2018, and we have enjoyed the opportunity to partner with you these past six years to sell exciting, high-quality, all-road, mountain, and fitness/lifestyle eBikes.
We will continue to support your dealership in the sell down of your inventory by extending the current “Fan Promotion” program where customers may receive up to 60% off their purchase of a new Yamaha eBike. This “Fan Promotion” program will be offered on all units retailed and warranty registered through June 30, 2025. YMUS will continue to provide parts, service, and customer support in the United States both now and in support of our limited 5-year warranty.
Finally, we wish to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to you and your staff for your dedication and support of the Yamaha eBike business.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
YamahaBicycles.com in the USA & Global.Yamaha-Motor.com globally
