Business – Kawasaki and Suzuki unite for the production of motorcycles –

Kawasaki and Suzuki unite for motorcycle production

Faced with the weakening of Japanese manufacturers on the world market, Suzuki and Kawasaki, respectively 3rd and 4th worldwide, have just concluded a strategic agreement aimed at the design of motorcycles in common.

To face an increasingly competitive global motorcycle market, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and Suzuki Motor Corporation announced yesterday in Tokyo the signing of a "strategic agreement for the development, design, engineering and manufacture of motorcycles and ATVs, as well as the purchase of spare parts".

According to the terms of the statement released yesterday in Tokyo, this agreement is "based on a spirit of reciprocity and equality. It aims to defend the wish of each party to contribute to greater profitability – even as globalization increases and competition intensifies in the motorcycle industry – through the complementarization of the resources of each and of mutual collaboration". Kawasaki and Suzuki have promised to collaborate in particular"in product development, the pooling of product platforms, parts and components, as well as as part of their purchasing and manufacturing policy, so as to improve the competitiveness and profitability of their activity".

In the immediate future, the two parties will concentrate their efforts on customs, large displacement scooters, motocross and ATV. On the other hand, they retain their autonomy in the area of ​​marketing and sales, each of them continuing to use its own distribution networks. The global motorcycle market for its part is still very buoyant, but faced with the success of esteem of European and American manufacturers among the public, the four Japanese giants (in order of importance Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki) saw their shares are reduced on the European market from 80 to 50%. A still comfortable place, but for how long ?

Eric MICHEL

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