Yamaha India appoints new CEO to turn company around

New Delhi: Yamaha Motors, the world’s second-largest motorcycle maker, has appointed another CEO for its loss-making India operations in the hope of turning it around. The India arm has now seen three chief executives at the helm within a year.



Yamaha Motor India, which used to hold a 25% share in the mid-90s, today has less than 3% of the six-million motorcycle market. The motorcycle maker has now put its manufacturing head, Y Tsuji, as the new CEO in place of Tsutomu Mabuchi,

who came in January and has now been recalled by the parent company.



The company spokesman refused to comment on the new CEO, saying he has not received any official communication to this effect.



Mr Mabuchi’s predecessor was T Ishikawa, a turnaround specialist who changed Yamaha’s fortunes in Thailand. Asked to do an encore in India, he was the CEO for over two years but couldn’t revive sales. Soon after his recall to Japan in January 2008, Mr Ishikawa came back to India and joined rival Bajaj Auto as a full-time advisor in April 2008.



Yamaha’s India operations have seen exits of several key executives in the last few months. The company’s chief marketing & sales officer, T Maeda, went back to Japan last month while Sunil Vij, in-charge of re-branding quit in the middle of the year. The head of corporate planning, Om Prakash, also left in September.



The company has introduced new models, the 150 cc YZF R15 and FZ16 and two super bikes, the 1,670 cc MT 01 and 1,000 cc YZF R1. In May 2008, Yamaha Motor revamped its India operation and offered an undisclosed equity to Japan’s third-largest trading house, Mitsui Corporation. It has outlined a planned capital investment of Rs 560 crore for new initiatives in marketing and products.