Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s largest maker of of all-terrain vehicles, has opened a second assembly plant in Newnan and will hire 100 employees to work on a new side-by-side utility vehicle.
The Japanese company also said Tuesday it has completed transferring all of its ATV production to the Coweta County plant, 30 minutes south of Atlanta.
The plant currently employs 1,250 workers. In addition to the 100 to be hired, an additional 300 workers could be added in years to come, the company said.
The facility already produces Yamaha’s Grizzly 700 FI all-terrain vehicle and the YFZ450R sport ATV. The new plant will produce the Viking side-by-side vehicle and other models.
“Yamaha continues to ramp up U.S. production thanks to the ATV production transfer, the introduction of all-new products like the Viking, and improving market conditions,” said Mike Martinez, vice president of Yamaha’s ATV/SxS group.
Martinez said it makes “great business sense” to move production to Newnan from overseas because more than 70 percent of global ATV sales are in the U.S.
Since the company began transferring all ATV production to Newnan in 2011, Yamaha said it has added 200 jobs in Georgia between its Newnan factory and corporate offices in Kennesaw in Cobb County.
The company said it has invested $250 million in its Newnan operations in the past 12 years. The facility is now Yamaha’s worldwide hub for ATV/SxS production and distribution. The company also has operations in California, Wisconsin, Texas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington.
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