Yamaha pedals into the electric bicycle market

Yamaha Motor Co has been struggling in the conversion of the sales into profit as the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer has experienced a shortfall in the bottom line for the first half of 2018. For improving the sales, the company has set its footprint in the US electric bicycle market for the very first time by launching four models.

Experts believe that the return to the US market will aid the company to reach out to a broad audience. The company depends heavily on the electric bicycles market to lower the expenses and convert the top line growth to the bottom line. In the past three years, sales of the electric bicycles have nearly tripled in the US.

Yamaha has not been new to the global electric bicycle industry after the debut in 1993. The company came out with the new YDX-TORC electric-assist powerful bicycle that has the Yamaha PW-X center drive motor system. The powerful e-bike has a higher price tag of $3,499 due to the extra power drive.

Also, the company has created three models of bicycles: entry-level fitness bike CrossCore, full-featured commuter/utility bike CrossConnect, and road bike UrbanRush. These models can be used for road and hybrid riding conditions and come with a price tag of between $2,399 and $3,299.

The three models will be powered by Yamaha’s PW Series SE motor with Eco-plus, Eco, Standard, and High driving support modes. It provides assistance of up to 20 miles per hour or 32 kilometers per hour.

All the four models come with a 36V 500 Wh Li-Ion battery that could fully recharge in four hours. The models are fitted with an LCD multi-function display screen and LED battery indicators. The bicycles would come in small, medium, and large sizes for supporting all riders.

For the recent first-half of 2018, higher expenses and an increase in income taxes hurt net income that fell by 6.3%. However, the company’s net sales rose by 2.8% helped by growths across all its business segments. Looking ahead, Yamaha predicts net sales growth of 1.8% and net income growth of 1.4% for the fiscal year 2018.