The new company, Yamaha Motor Middle Europe BV (YMME), is set to start operations on Jan. 1. YMME, capitalized at €18,000, is owned 60% by Yamaha Motor Europe NV (YME), a fully owned Yamaha Motor unit, and 40% by a wholly owned Mitsui unit called Mitsui Automotive Europe BV, which is responsible for the major trading house’s vehicle sales operations in Europe. The joint venture has its head office within the premises of YME’s headquarters in Schiphol-Rijk, the Netherlands. The new company will cover markets such as Britain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland.

In the British and German markets, Yamaha Motor and Mitsui have been cooperating in the sale of Yamaha Motor products, including motorcycles, since the 1970s through their joint ventures Yamaha Motor Deutschland GmbH and Yamaha Motor (UK) Ltd. YMME will take over the British and German joint ventures, as well as three Yamaha Motor marketing units in Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic, and a Mitsui marketing subsidiary in Poland. YMME aims to generate sales of €450 million in the first year, according to Yamaha Motor and Mitsui. (japancorp.net)