Torqeedo Yamaha sale now approved and completed
Deutz AG today announced the successful completion of the Torqeedo Yamaha sale, in which the world’s leading electric boat motor company is now owned by the world’s largest manufacturer of outboards. There were no details on the monetary exchange, just that “the proceeds of the sale amount to a figure in the high double-digit millions of euros”.
For the seller it was “another milestone in its portfolio realignment” and for the buyer it “marks a milestone in Yamaha Motor’s Marine CASE Strategy 2024, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in the marine industry and includes the development of an electric propulsion line.”
Torqeedo Yamaha a strong strategic partnership
Fabian Bez, CEO of Torqeedo, said “With Yamaha Motor, we have a strong strategic partner at our side to jointly advance electromobility on the water. This merger offers us new opportunities to strengthen our leading position in the growing market for electric boat motor systems and to shape the future of boating sustainably together.”
The pending Torqeedo sale was first announced just days before the Boot Düsseldorf boat show in January and since then representatives from both Yamaha and Torqeedo have been necessarily tightlipped about any future plans, citing the need for approval of the sale by European regulators.
New production facilities built in 2020
Deutz is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial motors and drive systems and purchased Torqeedo in 2017 with the aim of accelerating its electrification strategy for three core customer segments: Construction Equipment, Agricultural Machinery, and Material Handling.
Torqeedo Co-founder and then CEO said at the time of the 2017 sale: “As part of DEUTZ, Torqeedo will realize substantial opportunities in the areas of industrialization, supply chain management, sales and service.”
All of this came to pass and in 2020, under the leadership of current CEO Bez, Torqeedo consolidated its design, research, development and production facilities in a new 8,300 m2 (90,000 sq ft) building outside Munich.
Electric boat motors in every category
Torqeedo has electric boat motors available in every category ranging from the Ultralight 403 AC motor (400 Watts) to the Cruise outboards and pod drives (6 kiloWatt to 25 kW) to their Saildrive line (25-50 kW) to their Deep Blue Outboard and Hybrid systems that can deliver up to 100 kW of power. The motors are available for both recreational and commercial applications.
It is unclear exactly how the Torqeedo and Yamaha relationship will unfold, but in speaking with a wide variety of people in the electric boat industry at both the Düsseldorf and Miami Boat Shows, the general consensus is that the acquisition will be a good thing for everyone.
Most people assume that the large network of Yamaha dealers will massively increase Torqeedo’s distribution. There are 2,235 Yamaha Outboard dealers in the USA alone, and the Yamaha website lists 244 outboard distributors and sales companies around the world.
Yamaha now enters the world of electric boat motors with a highly respected brand that has its own state of the art manufacturing facilities. Mercury, one of the world’s other leading outboard manufacturers, also announced new additions to its Avator brand of electric outboards in January.
If, as expected, more people see Torqeedo electric motors in Yamaha dealerships and Avator electric motors in Mercury dealerships, it will boost the credibility and sales of all electric motors. ‘A rising tide lifts all electric boats’, to modify the old phrase.
Read about the founding and naming of Torqeedo
Torqeedo Yamaha to ‘develop boat motors together’
Torqeedo was founded in the boat shed of Christoph Ballin on Germany’s Lake Starnberg in 2005, giving it almost two decades of knowledge experience and more than 250 patents for electric motors, propellers and electrical systems.
The news release for the approval of the Torqeedo sale to Yamaha says the company now intends to use those assets “to develop boat motors together with Yamaha Motor”.
Toshiaki Ibata, Senior Executive Officer, Chief Director of Marine Business Operations Yamaha Motor, says “With the acquisition of Torqeedo, the global market leader for electric mobility on the water, we are taking the next step in our Marine CASE Strategy for 2024. Torqeedo’s years of expertise provide us with expert support in driving the electrification of our marine applications to make an important contribution to a zero-emission shipping industry.”
Torqeedo website Yamaha website Torqeedo in Plugboats
