the Road Star may be assembled in Japan..but how much of the bike is
actually manufactured elsewhere???

Yamaha Motor to Build Cast Wheel Plant in Vietnam


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Tokyo, July 16, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Yamaha Motor Co. <7272> said Wednesday that in September it will start making cast wheels for motorcycles in Vietnam to meet growing demand in Southeast Asia.

For the integral manufacturing from casting to painting, the Japanese motorbike maker will invest 1.5 billion yen to construct a plant with annual output capacity of 600,000 units at its local parts manufacturing subsidiary.

In developed countries, the cast wheel is currently the main type used for two-wheel vehicles due to its easy-to-design nature and cost performance.

But demand for cast wheels is also rising in the Southeast Asian market, where spoke wheels have predominated.

With the new production facility, Yamaha Motor will strengthen its supplies of cast wheels to its motorcycle manufacturing plants in not only Vietnam but Thailand, the Philippines and other member economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In its medium-term management plan for 2008-2010, Yamaha Motor hammered out the strategy of enhancing its business in the ASEAN area.

By 2010, the company plans to boost motorcycle sales fivefold from 2007 to 4.3 million units in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, in particular.