Yamaha apologises for delays, thanks dealers and customers for their patience
In the shape of President & CEO of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V., Eric de Seynes, Yamaha has moved to address the supply chain issues that are supressing deliveries to its European dealer network in a video address to the market released by Yamaha on April 29.
He starts by saying that "having endured a difficult 2020 year, we thought that the most complicated part of the Coronavirus pandemic was now behind us, both from a public health perspective and that of business.
"The initial outlook for 2021 was and remains positive. Demand has been recovering strongly since last summer, supported by a strong and committed dealer network - with many new products expected to be delivered."
"Unfortunately," he says, "this is not really the case now that we are getting into the 2021 season, as the long-term effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the supply chain are becoming clear. These effects are making it difficult to fulfil our key duty of making enough products available to our extensive dealer network.
"For the last ten months, the availability of raw materials has become an issue in many areas, such as the semi-conductors required in the manufacturing of our smart keys, ABS braking system, ECU, etc. Shipping goods overseas was also problematical due to the very high demand for many categories of manufactured products, but these issues have been made bigger right at the start of the season by the unexpected crisis in the Suez Canal, involving the container ship the 'Ever Given', which was transporting several thousands of Yamaha products and components."
He went on to say that "everybody here at Yamaha, from procurement to factory, through logistics and sales teams, are working hard to minimise the impact and to ensure that all available products are delivered. At the same time, we are also trying to provide the most accurate information on availability to our dealer network around Europe, in what was and is remaining a very unpredictable situation."
Addressing Yamaha's customers directly de Seynes said: "However, and fortunately, the situation will improve in the coming days, weeks and months. Your patience is appreciated, and we are confident that this patience will be rewarded with the great experience your new bike, scooter, outboard engine, WaveRunner or any other Yamaha product you have chosen will offer to you.
"In the meantime, while everyone here at Yamaha is working hard to resolve all of the problems created by the pandemic, and also to increase rapidly the number of our total deliveries, we understand that the wait for products to be delivered can be frustrating, and for that we are very sorry. Therefore, we sincerely hope you will accept our apology for any delay.
"We sincerely hope that you will be able to 'rev your heart' with your new machine very soon."
