News From Yamaha Corporate Rep @ AC Boat Show <March 2022>

[Stealth]

I was at the AC boat show this last weekend. While looking for my dealer to check the status of my boat order, I was talking to one of the Corporate Reps from Yamaha. I was telling them about all the issues I have been having getting a Yamaha and asked how manufacturing was going and if things are back to normal. He told me this year was going to be worse than last year and they are down 17% on production output. He also mentioned that an announcement was going out the end of this month or the beginning of next to clarify this with dealers and give them specifics as to what they will and will not be getting this year. I have no idea how accurate this info is, and I hope its not but I figured I'd pass it along. Hopefully its not as bad as he made it out to be.


I did find my dealer and after expecting bad news I was told my boat came in last week. Hopefully everyone else waiting gets some good news soon as well.....

 

[3abadi]

Yamaha should adopt order tracking system directly with the customer instead of this mysterious and “let’s hope it shows up on time” type of business.

 

[Stealth]

Yamaha should adopt order tracking system directly with the customer instead of this mysterious and “let’s hope it shows up on time” type of business.

I 110% agree. My biggest issue over the last two years was one minute I was getting a boat, then I wasn't. No one seemed to know anything.

 

[CAM212SS]

I was at the Knoxville Boat Show this past weekend. Premier Watersports is the Yamaha Dealer here. Basically in the backyard for the Yamaha Vonore TN plant. Not one jet boat was at the show.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Yamaha should adopt order tracking system directly with the customer instead of this mysterious and “let’s hope it shows up on time” type of business.

I had this with my Ram, was awesome to know where my truck was at.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Yamaha should adopt order tracking system directly with the customer instead of this mysterious and “let’s hope it shows up on time” type of business.

I also agree 100%.

The whole Yamaha ordering process seems like a cluster you-know-what.,

If there was a customer tracking system, and I was certain that my order would be fulfilled, I likely would order a new boat. The uncertainty, is one of the reasons that I'm not ordering a new Yamaha boat. I've heard of too many instances where someone has ordered a boat, then waited 6 - 9 months only to have the order cancelled. I think they should fill all outstanding orders before taking orders for the next model year.

Jim

 

[BigN8]

I gotta laugh reading this. I'm in manufacturing. We have orders for insulation and the contractors sound this same way. The problem is the software the manufacturing lines use for order input was never designed for a MTO (made to order) situation. So we have orders that we know we can't ship for 8 Months or so (used to be 4 days was the norm). So I get a large order, we process and send an order acknowledgment. Within about 2-3 weeks contractor starts calling asking for a ship date. Problem is there are so many orders it kinda goes into this dead zone of a few Months. Then once the order que kind of catches up I can at least give a , we think it will be manufactured the week of X in Month Y. Then once the order gets within 10 weeks (was 4 weeks) we then get a "you're order will ship on X date. The software that runs the order processing just can't handle anything beyond that. The 3 main gypsum cover board companies we use ( United States Gypsum, National Gypsum, Georgia Pacific) are so inundated with orders that they actually stop taking orders for a span of 2-3 weeks every so often to allow there manufacturing to catch up. Currently all 3 manufacturers are not accepting purchase orders. Then when they start accepting orders agin they get so overwhelmed that they shut down the order system again. They basically have all said once they get beyond 6 Months backlog they just stop taking orders.

I've never seen anything like this. And, I really have no idea why it's like this anymore and when it will every correct. I used to think it was a combination of raw material supply issues combined with worker shortage. Now I think it's kind of like a toilet paper scenario. Everyone is trying to build, expand, complete CapEx projects as fast as they can before it gets worse or even more expensive.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

What is funny?

I don't know about your industry, but I have seen a lot of canned software that is higher customizable, depending on ones needs and budget.

There are many manufacturers that have order tracking systems. Doesn't guarantee a delivery date, but you have an idea if you item is being built and/or where you stand in line with other orders.

Yamaha's process seem to be order a boat, it may or may not get built, and we may or may not decide to cancel your order. Maybe it works for them, but it sucks from a customer perspective.

Jim

 

[Chrisbert]

My dealer says my 252SD is "confirmed" by Yamaha. If that changes to "not gonna get it" I may have to look at another Mfg. :-(

 

[Stealth]

While the last two years have sucked boat shopping, in Yamaha's defense I think before that they never had these issues. My understanding was you use to order a boat and get one. With that being said now that these issues are happening Yamaha needs to be much more transparent on what is going on.

 

[Stealth]

My dealer says my 252SD is "confirmed" by Yamaha. If that changes to "not gonna get it" I may have to look at another Mfg. :-(

My goal at the boat show was to find another brand boat and start the buying process if I didn't get good news. I was very shocked to get the good news. However after everything that happened I'm not going to get excited until the boat is delivered.

 

[Taylorman]

I was at the AC boat show this last weekend. While looking for my dealer to check the status of my boat order, I was talking to one of the Corporate Reps from Yamaha. I was telling them about all the issues I have been having getting a Yamaha and asked how manufacturing was going and if things are back to normal. He told me this year was going to be worse than last year and they are down 17% on production output. He also mentioned that an announcement was going out the end of this month or the beginning of next to clarify this with dealers and give them specifics as to what they will and will not be getting this year. I have no idea how accurate this info is, and I hope its not but I figured I'd pass it along. Hopefully its not as bad as he made it out to be.


I did find my dealer and after expecting bad news I was told my boat came in last week. Hopefully everyone else waiting gets some good news soon as well.....

Congrats on getting your boat. I’m one of the many waiting for that same news.

If what you heard is correct it’s pretty messed up and further exposes Yamaha’s poor communication and how little they care about their buyers. They should be transparent and update dealers/buyers frequently. Waiting until the end of the month or beginning of next month is absurd.

 

[3abadi]

What makes it worse, Yamaha is so silent on the delays, no press releases, no Follow up emails, nothing. At least, they can have some sort of order progress updates. Anyway, we will wait and see; my boat should arrive end of May, if Yamaha is on track ⏱

 

[Taylorman]

I was at the AC boat show this last weekend. While looking for my dealer to check the status of my boat order, I was talking to one of the Corporate Reps from Yamaha. I was telling them about all the issues I have been having getting a Yamaha and asked how manufacturing was going and if things are back to normal. He told me this year was going to be worse than last year and they are down 17% on production output. He also mentioned that an announcement was going out the end of this month or the beginning of next to clarify this with dealers and give them specifics as to what they will and will not be getting this year. I have no idea how accurate this info is, and I hope its not but I figured I'd pass it along. Hopefully its not as bad as he made it out to be.


I did find my dealer and after expecting bad news I was told my boat came in last week. Hopefully everyone else waiting gets some good news soon as well.....

Dropped by my dealer this afternoon. He said Yamaha announced reduction to the skis a few weeks ago and they plan to let dealers know exactly how it impacts their expected arrivals at the end of the month. Perhaps that’s what the rep was referring to and not a reduction to boat deliveries? This comes from one of the largest Yamaha dealers in the SE.

 

[Stealth]

Dropped by my dealer this afternoon. He said Yamaha announced reduction to the skis a few weeks ago and they plan to let dealers know exactly how it impacts their expected arrivals at the end of the month. Perhaps that’s what the rep was referring to and not a reduction to boat deliveries? This comes from one of the largest Yamaha dealers in the SE.

I normally do not put much faith in what a random employee tells me that is not directly involved in the situation. I was on the fence about even posting it since it feels like a very weak rumor. Your outlined situation could very well be the case. He may have also thought I was talking about skis and didn't realize I was talking about a boat order. However he did mention the announcement was still to come so maybe it's a second one.

 

[AdamK195S]

Yamaha should adopt order tracking system directly with the customer instead of this mysterious and “let’s hope it shows up on time” type of business.

My neighbor ordered a Corvette and he would show me updates as to where it was in production shipping and estimated arrival. Very nice feature. I put my deposit on a 2022 in October and was told let’s hope it’s here by April. Boat arrived at the dealer 1 week before Xmas.