Ducati: In Pursuit of Magic
By: Hanmiao Li, Bohong Liu, Adam Loewer, Tianyue Shao, Yi Wei
Ducati is a specialized manufacturer of racing and sport motorcycles based in Italy. In this case report, we will analyze Ducati’s competitive position through an opportunities and threats analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, a value and cost drivers analysis, as well as the VRIO framework.
Opportunities/Threats
One of the biggest opportunities in the motorcycle industry is the growth trend of 3.3% in unit sales over the past five years, mostly in the United States and Asia/Pacific markets. Also, the rapid growth of women ridership offers the potential of an even larger customer base in the future. In the sport segment in particular, growth in
…show more content…
The U.S. and European markets buy motorcycles for the purpose of recreation and no readily-available product is threatening that purpose.
5) Rivalry
The rivalry in the motorcycle industry is very high. There are many brands such as Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda, BMW, Harley Davidson, and others which all competing for market share across different categories. In the entry bike category, the Japanese firms have priced some of their European rivals out of the market. In the racing category, the firms literally compete on the track in races that managers believe greatly influence unit sales between them.
Value Drivers/Cost Drivers/Strategy
The key value driver in the industry appears to be customer acquisition. Once a consumer is acquired (buys a motorcycle) they continue to buy accessories for their bike and merchandise of the same brand for years to come. This nature makes the acquisition of a first-time motorcycle buyer extremely important as they are likely to become a lifetime customer. Another value driver is success on the international racing circuits which increases brand image and visibility, and thus sales.
The key cost drivers are parts and components which account for 93% of Ducati’s cost of goods sold. Other cost drivers include research and development, advertising, and assembly costs.
Ducati pursues a focused-differentiator strategy with a niche around sport bikes. They charge
Starting from a company of less than 75 workers and owning less than 20,000 SCU for production, research, quality assurance and conduct warranty work Off The Chain Bikes has doubled the plant capacity and hearing doubling the workforce within two short years. The company is successful by targeting and capturing lucrative market shares by heavily investing in the desired technical specs and design styles of one of the most influential Racing bikes. Our keen ability to thoroughly research market demands, predicting competitive strategies between the four market majority shareholders by reviewing and interpreting the marketing reports and our aggressive design and development plans have significantly increased our market share and increase shareholder value. Our core competencies and strategic goals will be realized by carefully following our established plans and aggressively price our bikes to increase total market share.
Ducati entered into the accessories, apparel business and custom design components giving customers individuality and high performance, respectively.
Honda has continued to embrace the changes that happen around its operations to ensure sustainability and profitability. The current global motorcycle manufacturing sector is full of competition. It, therefore, becomes crucial for every manufacturer to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and then identify the opportunities to exploit to gain competitive advantage. Honda is Japanese based automobile company; it has numerous subsidiaries in Asia, Europe, and North America. Due to the advancements in technology, Honda will be required to make use of the latest technological trends to stay competitive. The business level strategy at Honda is in line with its enterprise and corporate strategy. The corporation also conducts Research and
Marketing and Sales represents Ducati’s most significant growth opportunities because their brand management strategy advances the Ducati name into the consciousness of their markets. In addition to motorcycles, Ducati extends the brand by selling accessories and apparel. For sure, Ducati owners will buy these products but perhaps more importantly, the aspirational aspect of the brand drives people to buy Ducati-branded items even if they don’t own the bike. This behavior is seen with the Harley-Davidson brand: many people wear H-D clothing and
Market is separated into the three sections. The low cost Youth Bike, mid-range Mountain Bike and the high end Road bikes. Due to the very competitive market, government is regulating and prohibiting competition from other countries. Only local manufactures are able to produce, at the beginning just Mountain Bike segment, later on the rest two also.
The fight amongst the major players in this industry is not over price, but over capturing the market share. Since, there is no one definitive leader in the motorcycle industry on the global level, the companies tend to steal each other’s business, this makes the industry rivalry cut throat. One of the crucial factors that make this industry extremely attractive is the constant drive for innovation. Since different industry participants have different approach towards the same segment of the industry, there is a very high
Porter five forces analysis is strategic analyses tool to understand the level of competition within an industry. The attractiveness of the industry is found by analysing five forces. In this context, the attractiveness of the industry is how profitable the industry is for the business and unattractive industry is the one where there is "pure competition". firms are driven to normal profit. The five forces include threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers and intensity of competitive rivalry (Porter & Heppelmann, 2014; Porter, 1983). Here, we will use porter five forces to see how it applies to bicycle Industry.
To fill their psychological needs of freedom and individualism, as well as their sense of adventure, women are purchasing customized motorcycles by the thousands. Harley Davidson has certainly recognized the women motorcyclist market as a great growth opportunity for
Harley Davidson Company has a long history of building motorcycles that have worked to actually shape a part of the American culture. Its product positioning and marketing strategies have served as a prime example for any company to imitate. Harley Davidson has developed immense levels of brand loyalty over the years. However, the company has also been burdened by the recent economic downturn and now is going through something of a rebuilding phase as it tries to determine its best course forward. This analysis will conduct a SWOT assessment of Harley Davidson's current position and make recommendations on how Harley can continue to develop the next phase of its iconic American brand.
The overall intensity of rivalry in the motorcycle industry is strong, key players in this industry include the Harley Davidson, Winnebago, Polaris, Thor, Artic Cat and Marine Products. These top performers hold a high percentage of
In this paper we will perform a complete analysis of the Harley-Davidson Corporation including their corporate and business strategies, strengths and weaknesses, environmental opportunities, the five industry forces, and financial situation. Harley-Davidson has many attributes, which will be apparent in the following analysis. The paper will attempt to define the different components of the analysis and put them all together in a way that seeks to explain the way that they contribute to the overall success of the company and its stakeholders.
Harley-Davidson has managed to dominate the U.S. market by investing in research and development, experimenting with its designs and
Motorcycles fall into the category called Recreational Vehicle, Motorcycle and Boat Retail Industry. These are companies that retail recreational vehicles, boats, motorcycles, jet skis, and/or related accessories. In Hoover’s classification, based on the North American Industry Classifications System (NAICS) and the older U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, motorcycles fall under a smaller subcategory called Motorcycle, ATV, and Personal Watercraft Dealers Industry. This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in retailing new and/or used motorcycles, motor scooters, motorbikes, mopeds, off-road all-terrain vehicles, and personal watercraft, or retailing these
The success of Harley Davidson (HD) is due to the American motorcycle icon’s effective Strategic Management. HD’s vision, mission, goals and objectives strive to exceed the requirements of its main stakeholders. Although these needs are not always met, the company has unique relationships with is stakeholders. The company stays on course with its strategic plan, despite the economy and the decline of American manufacturing and what might be considered its dwindling U.S. consumer base.
Before to Ducati’s acquisition by Texas Pacific Group, a deep financial crisis affected Ducati, undermining its production and consequently negatively affecting its market results. Production was less than production capacity and therefore it was clear that a relaunch of the company was necessary. The strategic plan carried out by Ducati Group, with the help of newly appointed Minoli, focused on the idea of increasing the company's value through a growth in turnover volume and protection of product profit margins. One of the most interesting aspects of the changes embraced by the Ducati, is the restructuring of the production system which began in the mid-1990s in order to maintain the product margin and increase the level of sales and turnover.