Honda to Build Scooters in Japan for Rival Yamaha

Honda Motor Co. and Yamaha Motor Co. are pooling production of 50-cc motor scooters in Japan and will collaborate on new models for the domestic market, The Nikkei reports.

The partnership’s first joint two-wheeler will be a model designed as a delivery vehicle, according to the newspaper. It says the companies also will collaborate to develop all-electric scooters.

Honda and Yamaha were fierce rivals in the early 1980s. But Japan’s market for low-power scooters has since shrunk 80%. To cut costs, the rivals are consolidating production at Honda’s scooter factory in Kumamoto.

Yamaha will shift roughly 50,000 units of 50-cc scooter production from Taiwan to the Kumamoto facility, according to The Nikkei. It says the plant operated at 78% of its 200,000-unit capacity last year.