Yamaha to stop developing some bikes in Japan

Yamaha Motor Co. will stop developing motorcycles with 250cc and larger engines in Japan for its domestic market, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Saturday.

The reported change comes as a cost-cutting measure, Dow Jones Newswires said in citing the Yomiuri Shimbun. The Japanese newspaper said Yamaha will continue to produce bikes, such as its SR400, domestically, without citing a source for its information.

Yamaha’s main plant in central Japan produced 179,000 motorcycles with engine capacities for 2500ccs in 2010, short of its break-even level of 200,000, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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