Yamaha fights off pandemic to post big marine sales numbers

And while sales are up, it seems no one is seeking a discount, with Yamaha’s income from its boats, jet skis and outboard engines increasing by 73 per cent compared with the same period last financial year.

Some of the big gains, though, have been attributed to Yamaha’s difficulty last year in dealing with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with widespread factory closures as the Japanese company dealt with the fallout of the pandemic. That hurt both Yamaha's ability to build its marine products, and get them to buyers.

“In the first half of the previous fiscal year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the temporary suspension of operations at our North American boatbuilders and at the Iwata main factory [where Yamaha outboard engines are made] and the effects were pronounced, but outdoor recreation demand remained robust and demand for outboard motors and boats rose, mainly in developed markets,” it said.

“For outboard motors, the impacts of shipping delays from the global shortage of containers remain, but product supply volume rose due to boosting production numbers, leading to higher outboard motor unit sales. 

“Personal watercraft unit sales fell due to production delays owing to a shortage of parts and other issues, but sales of sport boats and overseas boats increased. 

“As a result, sales and profits grew for the marine products business as a whole.”

But it’s not just boom times on the marine side of the ledger. Yamaha has also announced it is expecting full-year earnings for its entire business to increase by 24.4 per cent by the time it is announced in December.