Motorcycle Industry Analysis

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) was founded in 1903. The home base was originally founded in and even today remains in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Harley-Davidson’s popularity grew significantly during World War I, when the U.S. infantry used 20,000 of the company’s motorcycles in its war effort (Taylor, 2010). Best recognized for its manufacturing of heavyweight motorcycles, Harley-Davidson has captured half the U.S. market and a third of the global market (Wikinvest, 2010). Harley-Davidson motorcycles are noted for their classic lines, custom paint jobs, dependability, fine craftsmanship and the Harley-Davidson signature choppy sounding engine. Most importantly, it has been

Harley Davidson been in business for over a hundred years. The company operates in several related markets. They sell motorcycles, motorcycle parts and operate a financial component. Additionally the company operates in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. All Harley-Davidson business segments operate internationally.

In 1929, the Wall Street Market crashed causing many businesses to close their doors. Although the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company did not have to close their door, they did suffer major setbacks because of the Wall Street Market crash of 1929. The Wall Street Market crash caused many people to lose their jobs. Thus they would not afford to purchase motorcycles. Then in 1937, the Davidson motorcycles began having engine issues, leaving customers deserted. However, the brothers soon detected and diagnosis the problem with the engines, fixed the engine issues and gave the motorcycles a fresh look.

According to me, the motorcycle industry is very attractive. The main reason to back my claim is the level of competition in the industry. There is a very high level of completion between all the companies present in this particular segment. The main factors that drive this rivalry are different positions of different players within the industry, differences in technical know-how, different marketing campaigns, differences in core nature of the products and differences in strategies. The players in this particular industry don’t fight over price of their products, they rather compete with each other in terms quality of their products and the nature of their services to different segments of customers. Each player had its own unique strategy and nature of the product for a particular segment of customers, this tends to intensify the competition amongst companies in the industry.

When identifying and analyzing the major driving forces for change in the external environment of the motorcycle industry one must look, and identify these forces; they are the economy, national environmental forces, social, cultural, demographic forces, governmental, political forces, legal forces, and the competitive forces.

There are many ways to analyze the performance of a company, some more popular than others. According to the Barney text the accounting method is the most popular way of measuring a firm's performance (Barney, 2002). Some of the reasons for the popularity could include the fact that accounting measures of performance are publicly available on many firms and they communicate a great deal of information about a firm's operations. Other methods of performance analysis include firm survival and the multiple stakeholder approach.

The major forces for change in the external environment of motorcycles industry are political, economic, social-cultural, technological, environmental and legal factors (Cadle, Paul, & Turner, 2010). The political factors affect the external environment of motorcycle industry by affecting the markets. The government has influenced changes through free trade agreements, ensuring patent protection and encouraging e-commerce. Political influences provide both opportunities and threats, the free trade agreements have allowed expansion into other markets but also has increased the inflow of cheaper substitutes into the market that a company operates in. Political factors affecting this industry has brought opportunities for the Harley-Davidson.

Below is a free essay on "Harley Davidson Analysis" from Anti Essays, your source for online free essays, free research papers, and free term papers.

Historically Harley-Davidson to be a Niche Marketer, which is they had focused in on one particular aspect of the market. Kotler and Keller identified the following characteristics of niche marketing; customers have a distinct set of needs, they are willing to pay more to the firm that best suits their needs, it is not likely to attract competitors, gains economies through specialized products and it has a size, profit and to grow. Almost all of these hold true for the “heavyweight” segment of motor cycles that Harley-Davidson produced.

As a result, Harley-Davidson’s market share experienced a notable decline, forcing the company to go public following sixty years of private ownership. Furthermore, Harley-Davidson also experienced various internal changes, including its eventual acquisition by AMF, a heavy-industrial conglomerate, in 1969.

Harley Davidson is known as one of the main motorcycle manufacturers and sellers in the United States. The company had good business and great market share in the early 1960s when it commanded a total of about 70% 0f the motorcycle market, before the invasion or the intrusion of a small Japanese firm that manufactured lighter motorcycles, known as the Honda. The case study as identifies that Harley Davidson assumed the invasion by the Japanese firm and instead of tackling the competition, it waited for a long time which resulted in the company losing its command in the motorcycle market in the United States. Lack of action by the management of Harley Davidson resulted in the failure of the company

Increase of sales and the growth in the industry resulted to creation to motorcycle clubs as well as rallies were established. Unfortunately, lewd behavior exhibited by many people linked to the motorcycle clubs and rallies, had an image of being messy and raucous. This gave the bikers a terrible reputation. The image of Harley-Davidson was negatively affected because of the Hells Angels. All of these factors combined resulted to a sharp decline lead in demand and purchase of the motorcycles throughout the whole industry in the 1970's.The motorcycle industry provides products, which are often viewed as luxuries or desires rather than necessities. In regard to Harley-Davidson many motorcycle owners bought their bikes as a second vehicle, to use often

The Motorcycles and Related Products segment was responsible for virtually all of the change in consolidated revenue as the result of increases in both motorcycle unit shipments and Parts and Accessories sales. Year end data indicate that the domestic motorcycle market continued to grow throughout 1993 and demand for the company's motorcycles continues to exceed supply. International demand remains strong with export revenues totaling $262.8 million during 1993, an increase of approximately $23.4 million over 1992. The Board of Directors approved a comprehensive manufacturing strategy designed to achieve the goal of a 100,000 units per year production rate in 1996. Basically, it is an enhancement of the Motorcycle division's ability to

Motorcycles are one of the most affordable forms of transportation and one of the most common types of motor vehicle. There are approximately 200 million motorcycles (including mopeds and motor scooters) in use worldwide, compared with 590 million cars. Most motorcycles are concentrated in the United States and Japan. The

Milwaukee is where it all started for Harley Davidson. In 1903, William Harley Walter and Arthur Davidson created the first of millions Harley Davidson. It was one of the two major motorcycles that were able to survive the great depression. Since 1977, the only motorcycles sold to the public under the Harley-Davidson brand have been heavyweight motorcycles, with engine displacements greater than 700 cc, designed for cruising on highways. It is one of the most well known brands in the world of motorcycles and otherwise as well. Harley-Davidson maintains an enormous brand community, which keeps active through clubs, events, and a museum. The worth of Harley Davidson brand and its logo was somewhere around $40 million which was 0.8% of the