The firm showed two car concepts at Tokyo motor shows in 2013 and 2015, the Motiv and the Sports Ride Concept, both based around Murray's iStream manufacturing system.

The latter car stood out in particular for using carbonfibre in its construction, promising huge rigidity and an impressive power-to-weight ration for the car. Although exact details were not revealed, it was rumoured to have weighed less than 900kg.

Although McLaren F1 designer Murray had said the iStream system could be employed profitably for production volumes of between 1000 and 350,000 cars, Yamaha spokesman Naoto Horie confirmed at this year's Tokyo motor show that the projects would not proceed, with the firm preferring to focus on smaller, more bike-like mobility concepts if it strayed from its core motorcycle projects.

"Cars do not feature in our long-term plans any more," said Horie. "That is a decision taken by President Hidaka for the foreseeable future, as we could not see a way to develop either car to make it stand out from the competition, which is very strong.

"The sports car in particular had great appeal for us as enthusiasts, but the marketplace is particularly difficult. We now see other opportunities."

"The sports car in particular had great appeal for us as enthusiasts, but the marketplace is particularly difficult. We now see other opportunities," Horie concluded. He didn't name the other opportunities, but Autocar added the firm prefers to focus on bike-like concepts. Yamaha also makes a wide variety of products including motorcycles, musical instruments, and jet skis.

The decision marks the end of a quiet, decades-long presence in the automotive industry. Yamaha helped Toyota develop the 2000GT unveiled in 1965, and it manufactured the model between 1967 and 1970. 351 example were built. More recently, it made the 4.4-liter V8 engine offered in a handful of Volvo models between 2005 and 2011, including the original XC90 and the second-generation S80.

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.[20]

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.[21]
[22] 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 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[23].

Yamaha also tunes engines for manufacturers, such as Toyota, so Yamaha logos are on Toyota S engines.[24]

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 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 Toyota4GR-FSE engine found on the Lexus IS250[23]