Yamaha Snowmobiles Are Being Discontinued After The 2025 Model - Here's Why

Toward the tail end of last year, Japanese motorcycle giant Yamaha announced it would be withdrawing its ebikes from the North American market. Only a year earlier, the manufacturer had announced a discontinuation of one of its most beloved products: the snowmobile. Yamaha had been a key player in the snowmobile game for decades, first introducing its model, the SL350, in 1968. Yamaha's line of snow-going cruisers gathered a loyal following over the years, and Yamaha's 2025 snowmobile lineup includes a model for every budget. However, after 50-plus years of production and with over 30 snowmobile models in its historical catalog, Yamaha decided to pull the plug on this product line.

In June of 2023, Yamaha shared that it would end sales of snowmobiles in North America, Japan, and Europe after 2025. The company cited difficulties in sustaining business in the this market as the key reason for its decision. Yamaha's statement noted that it would instead focus its resources on its other product lines and exploring new growth markets. Now that 2025 is here, the company is set to fully stop selling snowmobiles. But is its reason for pulling the plug valid? Let's explore. 

Since entering the snowmobile market in the late 1960s, Yamaha has released some interesting snowmobiles. Sure, many will mention that the first Yamaha snowmobile was doomed to fail from the start, but the manufacturer more than made up for it with later models such as the Sidewinder SRX LE EPS, which has won many hearts with its speed. So, given the dedicated following Yamaha's snowmobiles enjoy, is the call to close its snowmobile division a sound one?

To understand Yamaha's decision, it's necessary to understand the market's trajectory in recent years. Through the 2010s, snowmobiles saw sales of between 120,000 and 130,000 units per year. However, these numbers have been declining over the past couple of years. According to the British Columbia Snowmobile Federation, customers purchased a total of 130,644 snowmobiles in 2022 worldwide. In 2023, the number dropped to 124,769. By 2024, only 112,650 units were sold globally. Last year, 51,987 of those sales came in the U.S., a 1,500-unit decline from the previous year's sales. For most companies, every sale counts. This decline was impossible for Yamaha to ignore, and no doubt was a major factor in the decision to close up shop.

While you might argue that refreshing its snowmobiles by introducing newer, more state-of-the-art models might boost sales again, it's crucial to understand that developing machinery — whether a jet fighter or a light bulb — requires the investment of substantial resources at various stages of product development. The journey from ideation, prototyping, concept development, and testing to market strategy formulation and commercialization is not only costly but also incredibly time-consuming. Due to the declining snowmobile sales, it's unclear if Yamaha could have recouped such an investment. Thus, it's understandable that it chose to focus on other activities and newer markets instead.

More than 18 months have passed since Yamaha shared the heart-wrenching news. So, what does that mean for customers who already own or plan to own Yamaha snowmobiles and might need parts or services? Yamaha stated that it would continue to offer customer services after the final production run ends. So you'll still be safe if you purchase a Yamaha snowmobile and need parts or repairs.