The Motorcycle Market Is Broken Out Into The U.s. And International Markets

The Harley-Davidson Motor Company had a small beginning, but has risen to unimaginable success. The road to success has not been simple and the company has been faced with many hardships. The support of outrageously loyal owners have allowed the company to struggle but maintain its composure. Harley’s top management has implemented plans to achieve prosperity, which has lasted throughout the years, and they are constantly looking forward.

Harley-Davidson has 30 plus motorcycle models ranging from smaller introductory motorcycles for the beginner up to high end touring motorcycles, and three wheeled motorcycles. Harley-Davidson has become one of the most well-known companies in the United States. They have opened the market from the typical biker to the doctor or lawyer with their continuous developments and variation in marketing and management. Due to demand for the American made motorcycle, the worldwide motorcycle market offers Harley-Davidson with many opportunities to sell their merchandise. Harley-Davidson has extended the choices of motorcycles through modernization and expanding choice in current marketplaces to include ecologically friendly products by producing an electric motorcycle.

Globally the trade in Harley Davidson Company products decreased by 1.3 Percent in 2015 as compared to 2014. Retail sales of the company's new motorcycles by 1.7 percent in the United States and 0.5 percent in the world market. This resulted in an overestimation of 2015 budgets as the expectation in 2015 was not met. The main reason the retail sale was adversely impacted were as a result of increased competitiveness behind currency-driven discounting as well as, new products that were introduced and the challenging macroeconomics variables (Holtfreter and Harrington,

Favorable Demographics - most motorcycle buyers are between the age of 35 and 64, a demographic forecast to grow about 17 percent between 2006 and 2015 in the US. The industry is also attracting younger buyers. Motorcycle ownership among Generation Y grew by more than 23 percent between 2008 and 2012, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

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.

I will discuss a business opportunity for Harley-Davidson, Inc. to begin offering motorcycle products in Vietnam to increase stagnant sales over the past four years. The mission of Harley-Davidson is to fulfill dreams of motorcyclists by expanding the line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments. The organization has to look for fresh customers among different market segments and age groups since the current market segment is aging. Vietnam is a suitable country for Harley-Davidson due to the city streets being chaotic, making traveling easier for two-wheeled vehicles. The Vietnamese tropical and temperate climate makes cyclists traveling through the countryside of rice

Harley-Davidson has two segments in which offer a variety of products and services. One of the segments is responsible for the development of designs, manufacturing motorcycles, sales of parts, accessories, general merchandise and related services through Motorcycles & Related Products. The other segment provides financial services to Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealers, in other words to finance Harley-Davidson franchises through Harley-Davidson Financial Services (GlobalData, 2012).

So, in 2003, it was the celebration of the 100th birthday of the Harley-Davidson. And, in order to commemorate it, fans of this famous brand rode until Milwaukee to see the parade of 10 000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Through this celebration, we can see how recognized this brand is for the owners, or should I say fans. Indeed, this case also shows how the strategy and the marketing of Harley-Davidson are good; because Harley has fans and they

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HD) mission statement: “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.” – Harley-Davidson, Inc.

Recently Harley has decided to market the people that are the nonriding public. In an attempt to capture this market they have licensed their name with the production of t-shirts, jewelry, small leather goods, toys and other products. There are also two Harley-Davidson Café 's located in New York and Las Vegas. Another marketing effort is the Academy of Motorcycling, which is for people that do not know how to ride a motorcycle. This academy teaches these people how to ride, and teaches them about the different

Harley-Davidson has managed to dominate the U.S. market by investing in research and development, experimenting with its designs and

The motorcycle industry offers products which can be viewed as luxuries or wants as opposed to necessities. Harley Davidson owns Buell motorcycle and Harley Davidson financial services. Harley-Davidson now holds 55 percent of the entire U.S. motorcycle market, and an even higher share in the U.S. heavy motorcycle market. This is the result of increasing investment in R&D. Harley Davidson now has over 6,000 employees. Harley-Davidson has benefited from a segment of the U.S. market which enjoys recreational riding. This isn’t

Harley Davidson (HD) sales have endured a roller-coaster history of growth and decline since its start in 1903. From extreme growth in its initial years, to declines during WWII, HD made its come back with larger, more powerful bikes and its image of “raw power” and enjoyed a 60% market share. Its popularity soared to iconic level in the 1950’s and became a lifestyle with unique brand loyalty. New, Japanese competitors, in particular Honda moved the market towards a smaller, quieter, less expensive bike; and by 1965, Honda represented half of all bike sales.

On a business level, Harley may want to try to develop new products that will give them an extra push past their competitors. They already have the loyalty base and combined with the threat of new entry into the business, they can enter other performance type industries. Bicycles, roller blades, and skateboards are just a few of the products that they can develop that may not be out of their range. Generation X and Y have gotten into these extreme sports and perhaps by reaching out to them with these types of products, they will develop future relationships with them. These performance products can be used for recreation and competition while keeping that edge that Harley has had since it began.

So, through these first elements of explanation of Harley 's success, we can clearly see what Harley-Davidson