Yamaha to Stick with Motorcycles

Motorcycle specialist Yamaha Motor Corp., which has partnered with Gordon Murray Design Ltd. on several concept cars, is no longer pursuing any automotive projects.

Yamaha concluded it can’t make a business case for a sufficiently unique specialty car that stood out from the competition, a company official tells Autocar. The magazine says Yamaha will continue to consider smaller bike-like mobility projects.

Yamaha teamed with Gordon Murray on the 2013 Motiv city car and 2015 Sports Ride performance car (pictured) concepts. The latter features an ultra-lightweight carbon fiber construction.

Yamaha also has partnered with Sony Corp. on a pair of self-driving demonstration vehicles, including this year’s SC-1 Sociable Cart that used Yamaha’s autonomous vehicle technologies. It isn’t clear where that program stands.