1. COMPANY OVERVIEW
Harley Davidson Inc. was found in 1903 by William S. Harley and Davidson brothers- Walter and Arthur. Since then the company has produced the most recognized motorcycles in the world. The company has been named to Fortune’s list of “100 Best Companies to work for”. The company has also been ranked #3 in automotive quality behind Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz by Harris Interactive, a worldwide market research and consulting firm.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company for the group of companies namely Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Buell Motorcycle Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the only major U.S.-based motorcycle manufacturer, produces heavyweight motorcycles and offers a complete line of motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel, and general merchandise. Buell Motorcycle Company produces sport motorcycles. Harley-Davidson Financial Services provides wholesale and retail financing and insurance programs to Harley-Davidson dealers and customers.
 Jeffrey L. Bleustein is chairman of the board and CEO of Harley Davidson Inc..
 There are more than 1,300 Harley-Davidson dealerships in 48 countries worldwide.
 The company has employed 8,000 people worldwide and the corporate headquarters located in Milwaukee, Wis; East Toy and Tomawauk, Wis; York Pa; and Kansas City, Mo. Other key business operations are located in Chicago, III.; Franklin, Wis.; Talladega, Ala; Highland Heights, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Carson City, Nev.; and Plano, Tex.
 Harley-Davidson maintains operation in strategic international markets throughout Europe, and in Brazil and Japan to support its worldwide dealer and distributor network.
Source of revenues for Harley Davidson :
- Selling motorcycles
- Harley Davidson financial service
- Parts and accessories
2. VISION, MISSION AND GOALS
Vision
To dedicate, to grow value and strengthen the brand, Harley-Davidson deliver products and deliver the services that fulfill dreams.
Mission
To fulfill dreams through the experiences of motorcycling by providing motorcycles and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles...
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...buyers (increased from 2% total sales before adopting to 9% in 2003). The company found that woman more likely to purchase after taking training course
 Financial service to make it more affordable
Operations
The company’s expansion plan of its York and Pennsylvania expects to allow the company to increase production to 400,000 units by 2007.
Distribution
 Through dealerships
 Showrooms offer a large assortment of clothing items and accessories in addition to new motorcycles
 Dealers are responsible for operating showrooms, stock parts and accessories.
 161 dealers in Japan.
 50 dealers and 3 distributors in Australia and New Zealand.
 7 dealers in South East Asian and East market.
Infrastructure
 Public listed company
 Quality system
 Strategy & planning are not clear
Needless to say, that experience has changed over time. It began from a simplistic design in 1904 as a motorized bike. However, as time progressed it brought about the introduction of the biker gang era. These were the bad asses image riding their heavy bikes down the highway, rebels who refused to give in to society’s pressures. It was the time of the Hell’s Angels, with their patches, long hair, and untidy beards that became the symbol of freedom on the road. They created the mantra of the bad ass dude on a bad ass American bike and no one was gonna tell him what to
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.
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.
...es how powerful of a symbol it has become. You wouldn’t consider the fact that someone drives a Honda Accord a defining characteristic of his or her identity but somehow that changes when it becomes a Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail. "Four wheels move the body two wheels move the sole" (Harley Davidson Ad/ 1992). It becomes clear that the motorcycle is much more than a vehicle; it is a manifestation of American values. When you break it down nothing seems more American that freedom, and brotherhood. Film has fully capitalized on these characteristics helping make the motorcycle a powerful image that has had a defining impact on American culture.
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. Specialized now has an extensive global distribution network of 5000 retailers in 35 countries in Asia, North America, South America, and Australia. They maintained a reputation as the technological leader in the bike and bike accessories. The formal mission is still the same since they established the company “To give everyone the best ride of their life.”
"Harley-Davidson: At Last" as presented in Hartley's Marketing Mistakes and Successes presents the circumstances around HD's near collapse and since rinse to near mythic success. This case is a great example of marketing myopia; HD saw them-selves as full-size motorcycles' manufactures, not in the transportation, or even the entertainment industry. They believed no one bought motorcycles for transportation, but rather for leisure time use.
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.
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.
line, built a company upon those unique foundations that pushed through one of America’s hardest financial times. As of 2014 Ford Motor Company ran into another dip in profit due to the competitive market. However, the company is investing into its future by looking into multiple aspects that have high potential in paying off. As of the end of 2015, the company’s total Revenue equated to $149.5 Billion compared to $135 Billion in 2014. The company’s insight on using start up companies and awareness of sustainability could push Ford Motor Company into a much brighter future.
Michael Porter tells us how the life cycle works through stages, first of which is the development phase, into the introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Hunsk motors didn’t carefully take into account each phase of its product sold, and lacked the ability to connect consumers towards the motorcycles identity. By introducing...
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."
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)
The company 's main headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, but they also have a multitude of offices spread across the world. Due to its large size and extensive amount of capital and