Honda and Yamaha consider collaboration to develop scooters

Honda and Yamaha have announced that they will explore the possibility of jointly developing scooters for the Japanese market. These scooters will be of the Class 1 variety, meaning that they will be limited to 50cc, but it is certainly an intriguing development.

The agreement as it stands to be discussed right now states that Honda will supply 50cc scooter models to Yamaha by the end of 2018. These models include the TACT and Giorno, which Yamaha will rebrand as the JOG and Vino. The two companies currently already have a similar arrangement with the Honda Benly/Yamaha Gear, and will study the feasibility of Honda becoming the OEM supplier for the next generation.

While rivals on paper, collaboration is not new to Japanese companies - Honda's two wheeler division had JVs with Hero MotoCorp and Kinetic in India when they entered India. However, it is highly unlikely that a JV of this nature will be explored in India unless the volumes of the scooter segment are high enough to sustain sales for whatever brands are involved in the JV.