Led by Genichi Kawakami, the company's founder and first president, Yamaha Motor spun off from musical instrument manufacturer Yamaha Corporation in 1955 and began production of its first product, the YA-1 125cc motorcycle.

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational conglomerate mobility manufacturer that was founded in 1955. The company operates across various industries and manufactures a wide range of motorized products, including motorcycles, motorboats, outboard motors, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Yamaha has been the world's second-largest motorcycle manufacturer, and it is the global leader in water vehicle sales. In addition, Yamaha holds the world's second-largest market share in chip mounters for semiconductor manufacturing equipment

Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd (currently Yamaha Corporation) was founded by Torakusu Yamaha in 1887 to manufacture reed organs and pianos and became the largest Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments in the early 20th Century. Yamaha was contracted to manufacture wooden and (later) metal airplane propellers by the Japanese government during World War II. The company struggled in the aftermath of the war, and in the early 1950s, chairman Genichi Kawakami decided to repurpose its underutilized war-time facilities to manufacture small motorcycles for leisure use.

The motorcycle division of Yamaha was spun off in 1955, being incorporated on 1 July 1955 in Japan, and was headed by Genichi Kawakami. Yamaha's initial product was a 125 cc two-stroke, single cylinder motorcycle, the YA-1, which was a copy of the German DKW RT 125. The YA-1 was a competitive success at racing from the beginning, winning not only the 125cc class in the Mt. Fuji Ascent, but also sweeping the podium with first, second and third place in the All Japan Autobike Endurance Road Race that same year.

Yamaha Motor is a highly diversified company which produces products for a large number of industries and consumer market segments:

• Motorcycles: Sport bikes, Star Cruiser bikes, trail bikes, road racers and motocross racers
• All terrain vehicles
• Snowmobiles
• Commuter vehicles, including scooters
• Boats: Powerboats, sailboats (e.g. Yamaha 26, a sailboat produced in the 1970s), utility boats and custom boats
• Marine engines: Outboard motors, electric marine motors, marine diesel engines and stern drives
• Personal watercraft – see WaveRunner
• Electric bicycles
• Automobile engines
• Industrial-use unmanned helicopters
• Golf cars
• Power products: generators, multipurpose engines, water pumps and snow throwers
• Swimming pools, watersliders and pool-related equipment
• Intelligent machinery, including compact industrial robots
• Electric wheelchairs and wheelchair electric drive units
• Yamaha parts and accessories, apparel, cycle helmets and motor oil
• Industrial robots and surface mounters

Yamaha has built engines for other manufacturers' vehicles beginning with the development and production of the Toyota 2000GT (1967). The cylinder head from the Toyota 4A-GE engine was developed by Yamaha and built at Toyota's Shimayama plant alongside the 4A and 2A engines. 

In 1984, executives of the Yamaha Motor Corporation signed a contract with the Ford Motor Company to develop, produce, and supply compact 60° 3.0 Liter DOHC V6 engines for transverse application for the 1989–95 Ford Taurus SHO. 

From 1993 to 1995, the SHO engine was produced in 3.0 and 3.2 Liter versions. Yamaha jointly designed the 3.4 Liter DOHC V-8 engine with Ford for the 1996–99 SHO. Ford and Yamaha also developed the Zetec-SE branded 4-cylinder engines used in several Ford cars like the small sports car Ford Puma.

From 2005 to 2010, Yamaha produced a 4.4 Litre V8 for Volvo. The B8444S engines were used in the XC90 and S80 models, whilst also adapted to 5.0L configuration for Volvo's foray into the V8 Supercars with the S60. British sportscar maker Noble also uses a bi-turbo version of the Volvo V8 in their M600. All performance-oriented cylinder heads on Toyota/Lexus engines were designed and/or built by Yamaha. Some examples are the 1LR-GUE engine found on the 2010–2012 Lexus LFA, the 2UR-GSE found in Lexus ISF, the 3S-GTE engine found on the Toyota MR2 and Toyota Celica GT4/All-Trac, the 2ZZ-GE engine found on the 1999–2006 Toyota Celica GT-S and Lotus Elise Series 2, and the Toyota 4GR-FSE engine found on the Lexus IS250.

Yamaha also tunes engines for manufacturers, such as Toyota, so Yamaha logos are on Toyota S engines.

ox99-11

Yamaha also tried to produce a supercar in the 1990s, named the Yamaha OX99-11. It was made as a supercar to have a Yamaha Formula 1 engine as its powerplant and have Formula 1 technology in it. Even though their engines did not win a Grand Prix, by 1991 the team had produced a new engine, the OX99, and approached the IAD company to design an initial version of the car.

This resulted in a radical and somewhat outrageous design based on Group C cars of the time, with features such as the cockpit-locking roof.

It also shared the same chassis as the Formula 1 car, to try to give the consumer market a pure Formula 1 experience. Eventually disagreements with IAD over the budget made Yamaha take the project to its own Ypsilon Technology which was given six months to finish the project, otherwise it would be terminated. To make matters worse, Japan was in the midst of an economic downturn, which made Yamaha believe there would be no customers for the car, and so the project was cancelled in 1994 after many delays, with only 3 prototypes in existence.

1992

The OX99-11 was built on the carbon fiber monocoque chassis with the hand-beaten aluminium panels for the bodywork, including the central driver's and a passenger seat positioned behind.

The OX99-11 was powered by the 3.5L V12 engine derived from the Yamaha's Formula One engine detuned into 400 hp at 10.000 rpm and a transversely mounted 6-speed manual transmission for road use.

concept cars

Beginning in 2013 Yamaha revealed a series of concept cars developed in collaboration with Gordon Murray Design utilizing the company's iStream design process. The first concept, named the MOTIV, was revealed at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show in 2013. The MOTIV was a compact city car designed to accommodate gasoline engines, EV drivetrains, hybrid systems, and range extenders.

The second concept, the Sports Ride Concept, was revealed at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show in 2015. The concept was a lightweight two-seat sports car that drew inspiration from the company's motorcycles. 

The third concept, the Cross Hub Concept, was revealed at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show in 2017. The Cross Hub was a coupé utility with a diamond-shaped sitting arrangement to allow it to carry two motorcycles in the bed while retaining compact dimensions for urban use.^[35] Yamaha confirmed at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show in 2019 that cars were no longer in the company's plans.

Yamaha produced Formula One engines from 1989 to 1997 (with a one-year break in 1990), initially for the Zakspeed team, in 1991 for the Brabham BT60Y, in 1992 for the Jordan 192, from 1993 to 1996 for Tyrrell, and in 1997 for the Arrows A18.

The Yamaha engines never won a race (Damon Hill nearly did so at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix). Drivers including Damon Hill, Ukyo Katayama, Mark Blundell and Mika Salo scored some acceptable results with Blundell achieving a surprise 3rd place at the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix and Hill with 2nd at the aforementioned 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. This partly was considered to be due to Yamaha collaborating with the John Judd Engine Organization to create a better and reliable engine. However, there were questions raised as to whether the Yamaha engines used from 1993 to 1997 were just Judd engines with Yamaha branding.

1994 was considered to be Yamaha's most successful year in terms of points accrued. Apart from the podium achieved by Blundell in Spain, the Yamaha engine in the Tyrrell Car achieved 4 fifth place finishes and 1 sixth place finish over the course of the season. However, due to the inconsistency of the engine over the years, they were often unreliable and were usually regarded as not very powerful.

The Yamaha engines never secured a fastest lap or pole position despite being on the grid for nearly a decade.

After the conclusion of the 1997 Formula One season, Yamaha decided to pull out of the sport. A possible reason for this was due to a disagreement with Arrows regarding the 1998 engine's identification. Yamaha wished to carry out work on the engine with their engineers, while Arrows wished for their own engineers to work on the engine instead, while still having it badged as a Yamaha engine.

In March 2024, it was announced Lola Cars will enter Formula E in the 2024–25 season as a powertrain supplier in a technical partnership with Yamaha. A month later, Lola-Yamaha secured Abt Formula E Team as its first powertrain customer for the 2024–25 season, with the team entering the season as Lola Yamaha Abt Formula E Team.