Yamaha pulling out of California after nearly half a century: HQ headed to Georgia

After nearly 50 years in Orange County, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA is packing up its headquarters — trading Cypress, California for Kennesaw, Georgia in a sweeping corporate shift that will impact about 250 workers.

The motorcycle and motorsports giant says the move is part of major “structural reforms” meant to boost profits as costs climb — including pressure from tariffs imposed during the administration of President Donald Trump and shifting market conditions.

The relocation won’t happen overnight. Yamaha plans to start the exit in late 2026, with the transition stretching into 2028.

Company spokesman Bob Starr said consolidating operations in Georgia simply makes business sense.

“In terms of efficiency, to have us all together in Georgia — all the functions of the business — it makes a lot of sense,” Starr said.

The departure marks another corporate blow for Cypress.

Back in 2019, Mitsubishi Motors North America ditched its longtime HQ in the city after 31 years, moving roughly 200 jobs to Franklin, Tennessee to cut costs.

Yamaha’s Japan-based parent, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., says it will also unload the company’s sprawling 25-acre Katella Avenue campus — a major administrative hub handling finance and corporate operations tied to its motorsports lineup, including ATVs, golf carts, motorcycles and boats. The site doesn’t manufacture products.

Commercial brokerage Avison Young has been tapped to market the massive property, which spans nearly 279,000 square feet of office, industrial and flex-warehouse space across an entire city block.

According to the firm, the parcel could become one of the largest industrial redevelopment opportunities currently available in Southern California.

Georgia isn’t new territory for Yamaha. The company already shifted its marine division there in 1999 and moved its motorsports operations in 2019 — making the headquarters relocation the final piece of the puzzle.

City officials in Cypress say they’re disappointed but thankful for the company’s decades-long presence.

“As one of the first companies to locate in the Cypress Business Park in 1980, Yamaha has been an important part of our business community for more than 40 years,” said Alicia Velasco, the city’s planning and community development director. “We thank Yamaha for its long-standing partnership and look forward to working with its management to transition the site to new ownership.”