Yamaha pulling out of California after nearly half a century: HQ headed to Georgia
City officials in Cypress say they’re disappointed but thankful for the company’s decades-long presence. Getty Images
Posted For: Layla Godey
After nearly five decades in Orange County, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA is preparing to relocate its headquarters, moving from Cypress, California, to Kennesaw, Georgia in a major corporate shift that will affect about 250 employees.
The motorcycle and motorsports company says the relocation is part of broader “structural reforms” aimed at improving profitability as operating costs rise. Those pressures include tariffs imposed during the administration of President Donald Trump, along with changing market conditions.
The move will not happen immediately. Yamaha plans to begin the transition in late 2026, with the full relocation expected to be completed by 2028.
Company spokesman Bob Starr said bringing operations together in Georgia will streamline the company’s structure and improve efficiency.
“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.
Yamaha’s departure represents another major corporate loss for the city of Cypress.
In 2019, Mitsubishi Motors North America moved its longtime headquarters out of the city after 31 years, relocating about 200 jobs to Franklin, Tennessee in an effort to reduce costs.
Yamaha’s Japan-based parent company, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., also plans to sell the company’s 25-acre Katella Avenue campus. The site has served as a key administrative center for finance and corporate operations tied to Yamaha’s motorsports products, including ATVs, golf carts, motorcycles and boats. The location does not manufacture products.
Commercial real estate brokerage Avison Young has been hired to market the large property, which covers 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 is already a major base for Yamaha. The company moved its marine division there in 1999 and relocated its motorsports operations in 2019, making the headquarters move the final step in consolidating those operations.
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