Harley-Davidson,
Inc.
Introduction
Harley-Davidson, Inc. since its inception has
specialized in selling dream motorcycles that
are of high quality and distinctive in styles.
The company in the past have seen turbulent business
environment to the extent of leveraged buyout,
infiltration of foreign made bikes as well as
government regulations. Yet despite these factors,
Harley-Davidson continues to reap profits, yield
high growth of approximately 15% a year and retain
its customer base (Official Website 2004). This
position in the market is however limited to the
US whereas in other countries of the world Harley-Davidson
products remain luxury item requiring emotional
attachment with American iconism.
Business Strategies and recommendations
Some of the forces that influence the company
and its future sales growth include:
Strengths
- Continuous Improvement
- Employee involvement
- Strong management holds over the company's operations
Weaknesses:
- Focus on luxury line of products
- Target market has no clear differentiation
- US customer base
Opportunities:
- Developing countries' market demand for heavy
bikes
- Innovation in motorcycle industry
Threats
- Japanese bike makers
- Low cost producing companies from other parts
of the world
Given the above SWOT analysis, it could be observed
that Harley-Davidson have in the past been focusing
on the internal improvements of the company at
the expense of losing market share from 77.5%
to 23.3% (Bruce 2004). For this reason there has
been a great need for refocusing on the marketing
plans adopted by the company to increase future
sales. It is recommended that for the next three
years the company should focus on sales growth
strategies. For the first year, Harley-Davidson
should focus on developing consumer base in developing
countries around the world such as Malaysia, India,
Hong Kong/China and Brazil as these are destinations
that both have good infrastructure for bike production
as well as newly acquired taste for luxury goods.
The customer base could be generated by appealing
to their aesthetic taste and emotional ties with
owning goods that reflect the liberation attitude
and the free spirit. This is the essence of the
Harley-Davidson mission statement which should
not be omitted from the future marketing plans
(Official Website 2004).
In the second year, the company should focus on
the acquisition of customers from secondary circle,
namely through the Harley club, the employees
participation, the suppliers and the general public.
A referral system has been established through
Harley-Davidson's reputation. This should be capitalized
to generate more sales by taking a survey, yet
once again of the preference of the American consumer
as well as the foreign consumers. This way the
company could gauge the new customer profile in
order to cater to their needs (Official Website
2004).
Third year of the company should capitalize on
the innovation by introducing less power bikes
that could cater to the preference of the lower
class of customers who cannot afford the high
price of Harley-Davidson. Reduction in cost of
production could be achieved through outsourcing
to other countries like China and Malaysia. This
would also enable the company to achieve higher
sales growth target.
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