Yamaha Canada Cuts Prices to Move Closer to US Pricing

As a Canadian, I’ve gotten used to accepting a lot of differences between Canada and the United States. It’s colder up here. The taxes are higher. The riding season is shorter. And for the most part, prices are higher for the same product than they are in the States.

Yamaha Motor Canada is doing something to help alleviate that last issue, announcing significant price cuts across most of its 2012 models. Now, the price gap still exists and most of Yamaha‘s motorcycles and scooters still cost more than they do in the U.S., but price cuts of up to $3900 Canadian are nonetheless welcome.

That hefty $3900 price cut is for the 2012 Royal Star Venture S, putting its MSRP at CN$19,999 from the 2011 price of $23,899. Accounting for the current exchange rates, that puts the price at US$19,576 and actually below Yamaha Motor USA’s US$20,190 tag.

Most of the other models are still higher than they are for their American counterparts, such as the traction control-equipped 2012 Yamaha R1 (CN$14,999 vs. US$13,990) which gets a price cut of CN$1800-1900, depending on choice of color.

Some models didn’t receive any price adjustments at all, including the flagship VMax muscle cruiser and all new models introduced last year such as the Star Stryker and Super Ténéré.

The price cuts are likely the result of Yamaha’s corporate shuffling which repositioned Yamaha Motor Canada as a subsidiary of the U.S. arm.

“Due to market fluctuations and inventory levels, we weren’t able to address the pricing gaps of the last few years as quickly as we would have liked,” says Peter Swanton, Yamaha Canada’s national sales manager of motorsports. “But to kick off 2012, we’re well positioned to bring about this price reduction. Yamaha customers can now get many models for the same price they would have paid 7 or 8 years ago, even with the product technological advances that have happened in the meantime.”

For a full list of Yamaha Canada’s 2012 price cuts, click here.

[Source: Yamaha Canada]

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