Japanese motorcycle maker Yamaha Motor said yesterday it plans to close seven factories globally, shedding 1,000 jobs in an effort to recover from a US$2.4 billion annual loss.
Yamaha, the world’s second-biggest motorcycle manufacturer after Honda, said it would cut 200 jobs overseas, on top of the 800 in Japan announced last week.
The streamlining is in addition to a 10 percent reduction in the company’s global work force of 17,000 already under way, a Yamaha spokesman said.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
The group will shut five of its 12 domestic factories by 2012, all in Shizuoka Prefecture, which now produce parts for motorcycles, marine products and buggies.
Overseas, Yamaha will close a motorcycling factory in Italy and a marine products plant in the US state of Florida.
“The company is expanding the scope of three structural reforms — reorganizing the manufacturing layout, the work force and reducing costs — beyond the level envisioned in the previous announcement,” Yamaha said.
Yamaha said it suffered a net loss of ¥216.1 billion (US$2.4 billion) for the year to December, against a year-earlier profit of ¥1.8 billion.
Revenue dropped 28.1 percent to ¥1.15 trillion last year as the economic slump dented sales of motorcycles and marine products at home and overseas, Yamaha said.
For this year, the company expects to break even on a net basis, with solid demand in Asia projected to lift revenue by 8.4 percent to ¥1.25 trillion.
However, “demand in Europe and the United States is not expected to recover for some time,” it said. “Thus, sales conditions surrounding the Yamaha Motor Group are expected to remain harsh.”
Meanwhile, Japanese tiremaker Bridgestone said yesterday that it ended last year in the black, beating its own previous forecast for a loss, after cost cuts helped to offset a slump in sales.
Bridgestone posted net earnings of about ¥1 billion, based on preliminary results, down from a year-earlier profit of ¥10.4 billion but much better than its forecast of a ¥10 billion loss.
Revenue tumbled by about 20 percent to ¥2.59 trillion last year, it said.
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