regder said:
Forgot about the V-Max, I had the FJR in mind.
I think it's safe to say that the Tenere has not been a success for Yamaha. They're selling a lot of 3 cylinders, they're getting a huge variety of bikes from basically one platform. Something like a Tenere would require a dedicated ground up design. Too much money, without enough return.
I agree with you, but not for the same reason. I believe the current model Tenere has likely returned Yamaha's Non Recurring Expenses (NRE), one-time costs, over the model's lifetime. Engineering is expensive, but if you sell enough units, the market sales will eventually pay that part down. It's the Recurring Expenses (RE), the "keeps the doors open" for this model costs, that I believe may be a problem for them, right now.
Those other three cylinder models, they share many common parts bins. So, the NRE and RE for those systems are also shared. Lower volume can be spread across many models, and still be profitable.
But the Tenere, it's kinda "one off". I can not think of another Yamaha model that the Tenere shares parts bins with. So, the NRE may be paid down by now, but theres no sharing of the RE at the factory, for this model line.
Eventually, when one sees the writing on the wall that there will no longer be enough willing market, will never be enough buyers, that one makes the decision: Redesign, or close the line. On a "one off" model like this, there are emotional and political consequences as well. Walking away from a model type, also means giving up a market position. Think of that in the context of what it means to be Japanese for a moment.
So, too much money with not enough return. Yes, I agree with that point too. A redesign decision has a dependency on a projection of future sales, which is somewhat reflected in current model sales, and used model sales (also tracked now, remember). The market has changed a great deal since the introduction of the original model Tenere. I believe projections of future sales must be pretty dismal at this time for this model type, for this particular manufacturer. So many things about the market have changed: Waning interest from upcoming buyers, aging out of current buyers, more competitors offering newer models, overall market depression, political interference, smaller market share for comparable machines, growth of other market segments, growth of other markets (ie: Not US).
All these factors, and a bit of luck / magic, make for a pretty complex software algorithm.
No one talks about a new redesign Tenere. There's not enough sales to justify all the NRE for redesigning just the display interface for the current model. That's my view.