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Harley Davidson Case Analysis

Harley Davidson was facing challenges in attracting young adult buyers and maintaining sales growth. Its core customer base of baby boomers was aging. Younger riders preferred lighter, faster bikes offered by Japanese competitors that were cheaper than Harley's heavyweight motorcycles. Harley needed to identify new target audiences, expand its product line, and launch relevant marketing campaigns to increase awareness among women and young riders. It also had opportunities to enter new global markets like China, India, and Europe where it had low market share. The document analyzed Harley's past performance, competition, growth opportunities, and proposed actions like introducing new models and establishing in emerging markets.

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293 views9 pages

Harley Davidson Case Analysis

Harley Davidson was facing challenges in attracting young adult buyers and maintaining sales growth. Its core customer base of baby boomers was aging. Younger riders preferred lighter, faster bikes offered by Japanese competitors that were cheaper than Harley's heavyweight motorcycles. Harley needed to identify new target audiences, expand its product line, and launch relevant marketing campaigns to increase awareness among women and young riders. It also had opportunities to enter new global markets like China, India, and Europe where it had low market share. The document analyzed Harley's past performance, competition, growth opportunities, and proposed actions like introducing new models and establishing in emerging markets.

Uploaded by

Achaudhary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HARLEY DAVIDSON

CASE ANALYSIS
Submitted By : Group 8
Ankit Bagla
Aarushi Chowdhary
Shivangini Bhrambhat
Sayni Pal
Priya Yadav
Sindhuja

1
Performance of Harley Davidson till 2006
1950s : Harley Bike Club sprung up across US, making the brand a cult.
•Some exclusive member club involved in criminal activities helped Harley position itself as an outlaw

1960s : Sales grew from 16 million to 30 million


•Competition from Japanese maker who offered fast, lightweight and cheaper option

1970s : Work force were cut, quality issues got exacerbated during this
period so much so that Harley was referred to as ‘Hardly Drivable’

1980 – 1990s : Bought by Executives of Harley and Willie G Davidson,


starting capitalizing on design and image of 1940 and 50s

2000s : Baby Boomer (born between 1946 - 1964), the core segment was
aging and Young Adult buyers had 22% share across all product

2
Challenge
The company’s stock price was down 20% for the year (2007) and the macroeconomy seemed to be weakening every month

The primary focus was on the heavyweight category, which was not aligned with the preference of Young Adults. Capture young adult buyers,
without losing the core segment which generates maximum revenue

Identify, define and target outreach audience for the Harley brand

Global financial crisis is 1 year ahead and market has started feeling the heat

3
Competition
■ In sports category:
– Europe- BMW(engineering precision) & Ducati(Racing Performance)
– Japan- Honda, Kawasaki(For young riders), Suzuki(stylish and popular) & Yamaha
– Honda, Kawaski, Suzuki and Yamaha provided cheaper, lighter, faster and better quality
bikes whereas BMW and ducati were into heavy and sports bike

■ Strongest global market in 2007 was in Japan


■ Market leader for heavyweight bikes in Japan

■ Market share in Europe is 8.2%


■ Brand Buell had a larger share in Europe than it had in U.S.

4
Growth Opportunities

Market penetration
Product Development

Existing
HD is retaining its customers for
heavy weighted category but In 2007, HD offered products in
needs to offer cheaper and both heavyweight and sport bike
relatable brand image for young (Buell) categories
TECHNICAL riders FINANCIAL ECONOMIC
Market

ANALYSIS ANALYSIS ANALYSIS

Market Development
HD was weaker in Europe Diversification
New

market. None
It had large opportunities in
China, India, Brazil, Russia

Existing New

Product

5
Marketing Decisions

Harley Davidson hired a Chief Marketing Officer:


• They wanted to target a new generation of riders
• Focused to have a more diverse customer base
• They also focused on the retention of the current customers
To regain the market share the executives in 1981 designed new models based on the look and feel of
the bikes from 1940’s and 1950’s

To target the Outreach audiences the company took initiatives like HD garage parties, small women-
only events, Rider’s edge- a new rider training program etc.
• These initiatives aimed at holding the core customer base

The company conducted a study of Young Adults


• This was to identify the barriers to buy HD

Harley-Davidson Styling had already created some bikes in the portfolio that reflected the rand
attributes
• The recently introduced Nightster, Street Bob, and the older Night Train
Future Path of HD

Introduce new models to target the young customers


• Buell bikes were lighter, faster, sportier, and cheaper than HD’s heavyweight bikes, hence
more attractive to younger customers

Relevant marketing campaigns should be launched for specific target


customers to increase awareness
• Women and younger riders are increasingly becoming interested in bikes

Establish into new emerging markets at global level


• they can penetrate the Asian market with their existing product along with the customisation
required
Dark Custom Initiative

A per a 2006 European study, it was found that young riders didn’t like chrome in bikes

They were called “Black World” because of their preferred appearance of bikes and rebellious
spirit

Wanted stripped down, elemental and dark bikes as compared to chrome cruisers

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