Kymco (an acronym for Kwang Yang Motor Co, Ltd (Chinese: 光陽工業; pinyin: Guāngyáng Gōngyè)) (stylized as KYMCO) is a Taiwanese motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. With approximately 3000 employees, Kymco produces over 570,000 vehicles annually at its factory in Kaohsiung. The company also has production facilities in Indonesia, Malaysia, and PR China.
The company was founded in 1963 after splitting from Honda. KYMCO originally made parts for Honda. The company built its first complete scooter in 1970 and began marketing under the "KYMCO" brand name in 1992. In the 2000s, Kymco became the largest scooter manufacturer in Taiwan, and the fifth largest scooter manufacturer worldwide.[1] In early 2008, KYMCO was chosen by BMW to supply the engines for their G450 X Enduro bike.[2] The optional range extender in the BMW i3 is also supplied by Kymco.[3] In late 2013, Kawasaki announced that their new J300 scooter is manufactured in partnership with Kymco. It is based on a Kymco Downtown 300i.[4]
Kymco has its U.S. subsidiary KYMCO USA headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States and sells its vehicles and products via 600 franchised dealerships located throughout the country. For the U.S. market, Kymco offers 10 scooters, eight side by sides, 14 ATVs and two small displacement motorcycles in its line of products. Kymco was the official Scooter and ATV for the NHRA[7] and with Gray Motorsports primary sponsor of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.[8]
