Yamaha Motor is proud to be celebrating the 70th Anniversary of its foundation. To commemorate this milestone, the company is disclosing an updated company logo accompanied by a new brand video that honours Yamaha’s rich legacy, and highlights its enduring mission and core values, whilst unveiling the essence of its signature – Revs Your Heart.
Established on July 1, 1955 by the visionary Genichi Kawakami, Yamaha Motor was born with a bold spirit of innovation, entering a motorcycle market already filled with strong players. The company introduced its first motorcycle, the YA-1 – nicknamed the “Red Dragonfly”, an air-cooled, 2-stroke, single-cylinder 125cc engine that embodied the company’s craftmanship, creativity and excellence. To prove its quality, Yamaha took the YA-1 to the racetrack only ten days after the establishment of the company, competing in the 3rd Mount Fuji Ascent Race and the 1st Asama Highlands Race that same year. It won the 125cc class of both races. Still today, these early triumphs portray our Spirit of Challenge, pushing us to compete at the very highest level.
Ever since its foundation, Yamaha has always pursued its mission to provide its valued customers the philosophy of Kando through its products and services. Kando is the Japanese word to express the deep satisfaction and excitement one gets when encountering something of exceptional value, quality, and performance; a thrilling emotion that adds spice to life and gets customers’ and our hearts revving. Throughout 70 years of persistently aiming for excellence, we design, develop and manufacture products and services – also through exchange of technologies developed by our racing and design teams – that exceed our customers’ expectations. And we will continue to do so, guided and inspired by our five values:
- Innovation: we are constantly seeking to generate new and original ideas from various creative perspectives that are unbound by the conventions or norms of the day.
- Excitement: we are seeking out and aiming to provide what makes our customers happy and making sure that we ourselves enjoy the process of delivering it.
- Confidence: when using our products and services, we aim to give our customers a sense of trust and peace of mind through the quality of our products and services.
- Emotion: we aim to provide products and services that fascinate people’s artistic senses and that create long-lasting memories.
- Ties: we strive to win the hearts of people around the world and form a bond with them by creating value that surpasses their expectations.
Seventy years is a remarkable milestone and we are deeply honoured to celebrate and to be a part of this legacy. Yamaha Motor’s journey has been shaped by a rich history made of multiple achievements and experiences which defined our values. These values now drive us to strive for excellence in everything we do, with the aim of continuous growth, innovation and Kando creation for our customers. I take this opportunity to congratulate our mother company in Japan on its 70th Anniversary. This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and support of everyone involved. To our customers, employees, distribution network, and suppliers, thank you for being with us in this journey, and for challenging us to do better every day. Here’s to 70 more years of success!
— Olivier Prévost, President & CEO of Yamaha Motor Europe
To mark this milestone, the company has launched a special 70th Anniversary logo. Designed under the concept of ”Everything Begins with a Challenge”, the logo is based on the racing number plate used on the YA-1 in 1955. Yamaha will celebrate its Anniversary and its legacy throughout the year, bringing Kando closer to stakeholders.
