EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Harley-Davidson
is the largest market share holder of motorcycles over 750cc in the United
States. After the expansion of our production and distribution capacity, we will be in the position to meet the increasing demand for our motorcycles and other products.
Growth potential appears very good especially in the overseas market. Gaining a larger market share in these area may require a further increase in production and distribution capacities. We must plan for expansion now and continue to grow as a company.
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
In Milwaukee,
William Harley, 21, and Arthur Davidson, 20, began experiments on taking the work out of bicycling. They were soon joined by Arthur’s brothers, Walter and
William. Many changes were made to the engine design before its builders were satisfied. After the new looped from was finalized, they were ready to begin production. In 1903 they produced three motorcycles. Harley-Davidson erected its first building the current Juneau avenue site in 1906 and incorporated in 1907. In 1907 Harley-Davidson produced 150 motorcycles.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
The
motorcycle market over 750cc has been increasing over the last five years.
The Harley-Davidson 1996 model year production line, sold though a world wide network of more than 1,000 dealers, includes 20 cruiser, factory custom and touring motorcycles, as well as police motorcycles. Harley-Davidson benefits form having one of the world’s most recognized and respected brand names and our motorcycle model names are among the best known in the industry:
The
Competition and Market share
This chart shows the competition and market share for 1995 in the United States:
Current Market Situation
Overall
Net sales for 1995 of $1.4 billion were $191.6 million, or 16.5%, higher than net sales for 1994. Net income and earnings per share from continuing operations were $111.1 million and $1.48, for 1995 as compared with $96.2 million and
$1.26, for 1994. Net income and earnings per share from discontinued operations were $1.4 million and $.02, for 1995 as compared with $8.0 million and $.11, for 1994, which included a $4.6 million, or $.06 per-share, one-time tax benefit related to the legal reorganizat...
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...Harley-Davidson dealerships), bringing the year-end total to approximately
150. In 1996, the Buell team will complete its study of the European sport/performance market, which is four times larger than its U.S. counterpart, to prepare for a possible future launch there.
Promotion
The majority of our advertising comes from bike rallies and special events that are held that are held across the United States. Our Rallies draw between 5,000 and 200,000 people. The majority of the attendants are Harley owners. Harley Davidson as an organization does very little mainstream advertising.
BUDGETS CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Standards
should be specified in terms of sales, and production. Costs should be identified and target cost levels specified to facilitate their control. Standards should be established in terms of consumer’s attitudes. Attitude standards, in terms of perceptions, and desires should be specified. Controls should be implemented and monitored by appropriate administrators. The president, vice-president, administrators, and other individuals should be responsible for controlling the marketing mix implemented.
Allstate insurance is the second largest property and casualty insurance company by premiums in the United States. Allstate insurance handles about 12% of the U.S home and auto insurance market. (Allstate, 2014). Many of Allstate’s customers fall under what one could refer to as a traditional selection of insurance for automobiles. Recently, Allstate has noticed a major shortcoming in lifestyle insurance, which includes coverage for motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, in comparison to its competitors. The motorcycle insurance sector is a 10.4 billion dollar industry and growing (PRWEB, 2012). The U.S. Department of Transportation website reports some astounding figures, including that 5,370,035 motorcycles were registered three years before the article, 7,138,476 motorcycles registered at the time of the article, and grew to 9,477,243 registered motorcycles at the end of 2012 (NHTSA, 2013). It is obvious as to why Allstate would identify motorcycle insurance as a worthy lifestyle product to devote marketing research dollars into in order to develop new strategies for cornering a share of the market.
El Camino There was always a demand for trucks with the comfort of a passenger car, or a passenger car with the load capacity of a truck. In response to this demand, Ford released the Ranchero in 1957. To compete with Ford’s Ranchero, Chevrolet created the El Camino, whose first release occurred in 1959. Over the years, Chevy has made several modifications to the El Camino to improve performance and style.
Harley-Davidson states their mission as “We fulfill dreams through the experiences of motorcycling by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles, branded products and services in selected market segments.” They have performed wonderfully over the past hundred years, and have not forgotten their mission or where they came from. Over the years they have stuck with the things they know, and also expanded into related services and products. Out of the 151 motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson and Indian were the only two companies to survive the Great Depression. Harley-Davidson was the only one in America after Indian dropped out in 1953, but face Indian again now since they re-entered the market in 1999.
The next ratio we will review is gross profit margin. Gross profit margin (GPM) measures the percentage of each sales dollar remaining after the firm has paid for its goods. The higher the gross profit margin, the better. Harley Davidson's gross profit margin was 35.08% for 2001, 34.09% for 2000.
The corvette was first introduced in January 1953. To experiment with the car, they only made 300 cars, which were all made by hand and powered by a 235-cubic-inch 6-cylinder engine. The corvette was designed to show the world that General Motors could make a sports car that was a stylish two seater. All 1953 corvettes were polo white with red interiors. The engine of the car generated 150 horsepower and had a 2-speed power glide automatic transmission. Researchers have found that the first corvette has been known to go over 150 miles per hour.
This case study is about “Specialized Bicycle Components Inc.” known as Ride the Red “S”. Specialized was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard. According to Chris Murphy, director of marketing for Red “S”, specialized is for serious riders. He says, “The customer is buying the ride from us, not just the bike.” The company began to produce its own bike parts by 1976, and introduced the first major production mountain bike in the world in 1980.
During the 1970's, HD was facing a decline in market share due to increased competition with Japanese companies. By phasing out weak models, becoming more selective, and limiting sales and promotions, HD was able to carve out a niche in the marketplace which it enjoys today. Now again faced with a period of decline, HD is relying on its newly adopted marketing objectives. First, HD needs to expand its potential customer base to include enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts young males, and females into buying HD motorcycles over any other competitor. This thought is accomplished through the introduction of the VRSC’S, and the lower and narrow Sportsters, Dyna’s, Softail’s and positioning them in the market to a younger demographic. Secondly, HD needs to position the VRSC’S, Sporster, Dyna and Softail to also appeal to first time buyers of motorcycles. HD's strong brand identity can help pull in new clients.
Budgeting Assignment A company's budget serves as a guideline in planning and committing costs in order to meet tactical and strategic goals. Tactical goals such as providing budgetary costs for daily operations, and strategic objectives that include R&D, production, marketing, and distribution are all part of the budgeting process. Serving as a guideline rather than being set in stone, the budget is a snapshot of a manager's "best thinking at the time it is prepared." (Marshall, 2003, p.496)
Despite their conception in 1903, Harley-Davidson and the motorcycle industry as a whole didn’t really take off until after the Second World War. Many people rode motorcycles during the war, with Harley-Davidson themselves supplying almost 90,000 motorcycles for the U.S. military during this time. Many veterans chose to purchase motorcycles upon returning home, as they enjoyed riding during the war and wanted to continue riding in their civilian life. This generation known as the "baby-boomers" quickly became the main target audience for many of Harley-Davidson’s marketing efforts. With sales increasing and the industry growing, many "motorcycle clubs" and "rallies" were introduced. Unfortunately, due to the lewd behavior displayed by most people associated with these clubs and rallies, bikers typically had an image of being disorderly and raucous. Harley-Davidson’s image itself took a big shot due to the Hells Angels. This was a motorcycle gang wishing to become notorious for "drug trafficking and other organized crime activities," who used only Harley-Davidson motorcycles. All of this combined to lead to a decline in demand and sales throughout the entire industry during the 1960’s. The industry was really helped out with the release of the Hollywood film Easy Rider in 1969. This film helped change the public’s perception of bikers and sparked an increase in motorcycle demand which has lasted to this day.
When a person sees a modern muscle car, like the 2012 Camaro for example, does he ever wonder about how that design came about? What about when and why? Has he ever thought about how those cars have changed our world today? Or what about what makes a muscle car a muscle car as opposed to a sports car or some other car? Historical events and societal changes have influenced the production of muscle cars, and in turn they have changed the car industry by researching and developing speed technology, making it more economic for everyone and making racing more interesting.
James, W. B., & Graham, B. (2004). Strategic change in the face of success? Harley-Davidson, Inc. Strategic Change, 13(4), 205.
"We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments."
Honda, The Car Everyone Needs Beep! Beep! Beep! Goes the alarm clock in the other room. Oh man, surely it can't be time to get up yet, you think to yourself. As you scramble out of the bed and into the shower, the thought crosses your mind, I hope my car starts.
Italian manufacturer Piaggio ranks as one of the world’s top four players in its core business. It has consolidated leadership in the European 2-wheeler market. Piaggio should not miscalculate its competitors. Competition in the industry is very powerful, not only nationally but internationally as well. This is due to two well-established companies in this sector which are the Japanese Yamaha and Honda. Yamaha and Honda strengths are their long-run experience in the sector and the high quality image of products. Due to participations to the motorcycle championships, these two companies constantly receive positive feedbacks to their efforts in researching for first class products. In the future, other kinds of competitors are expected to arise: Chinese companies whose ability to imitate and create similar products at highly competitive prices is getting more and more dangerous (Piaggio, 2008)
It has been a decade in the making, but the mountain bike has become a