Harley-Davidson
SWOT Analysis of Harley-Davidson
SWOT analysis highlights the strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses facing a firm. Harley-Davidson has a number of strengths that the company enjoys relative to its competitors. Harley-Davidson has a reputation for producing motorcycles that represent the American image and spirit. In addition, the company focuses on the production of heavyweight motorcycles that are designed specifically for cruising. The following are the strengths of Harley-Davidson:
Harley-Davidson
- The company has about 70 percent of the market share of the heavy weight motorcycle market;
- It is the only American brand that is known for the production of heavy weight motorcycles;
- The company enjoys a strong brand name, especially with regard to creating perceptions in the minds of the customers associated with strength and freedom;
- Harley-Davidson enjoys a good relationship with its suppliers, which results in cost effectiveness and quality product development;
- The company derives most of its revenue from the customization of motor cycles
- The company enjoys a strong image as regards the good will factor;
- Harley-Davidson enjoys strong distribution and marketing in the United States;
- The foremost strength of the firm stems from customer loyalty;
- The Harley Owners Group, which has about 7,500,00 members world wise is the largest sponsored motorcycle enthusiast organization in the motorcycle industry;
- The company has an effective manufacturing division comprised of customer events, public relations, direct mail advertising, and dealer promotions.
Harley-Davidson
Weaknesses
- The price of Harley-Davidson motorcycles is relatively high, which locks out several potential customers;
- The company has been losing its market share continuously, particularly in Europe;
- An analysis of the future of heavyweight motorcycles market reveals that it is weakening
- The company uses poor marketing techniques, resulting in its inability to attract customers from the global market
- The culture of riding motorcycles is associated with hooliganism, which is likely to reduce its customer base.
Harley-Davidson
Opportunities
- With regard to the global market, the demand for Harley-Davidson motorcycles remains the highest in Europe;
- Harley-Davidson should market its products competitively, particularly in the European market;
- There are other untapped markets for motorcycles such as India;
- The global market for motorcycles is bigger than the United States market;
- Even in regions with low economic levels, Harley-Davidson can take advantage of this opportunity since it is in the minds of people that motorcycle is a more economical means of travel.
Harley-Davidson
Threats
- There are anticipated losses stemming from supply shortages and capacity restraints in recent times;
- According to studies, the median age of Harley-Davidson buyer is 42 years and is continually increasing; the company risks losing its market if the generation wipes out;
- Standards have been increased in the European market;
- A number of competitors of Harley-Davidson are utilizing more resources in their marketing strategies; this is a threat because they can opt to shift their risk factor since they rely on product diversification;
- There is the need for Harley-Davidson to continue operating under Buell division;
- Because of the low cost of motorcycle production and high profit margins, it is highly likely that competitors will saturate the market.
- Compliance with environmental protection requirements
Harley-Davidson
The following figure shows the SWOT matrix for Harley-Davidson (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Harley-Davidson
| SO strategy | ST strategy |
| Expand production to Europe | Increase strong brand name |
| Expand production to Asia | Increase market to younger customer |
| WO strategy | WT Strategy |
| Improve employee relationship | |
Porter’s Analysis on Harley-Davidson Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Rivalry
- There are four major competitors focusing on the heavyweight motorcycle segment; besides Harley-Davidson, other players in the heavyweight segment include Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki, which are all Japanese;
- Some of the core competitors of Harley-Davidson have huge marketing and financial resources and make use of diverse product lines; for instance, motorcycles constitute only half of the revenues;
- Polans, which is an American snow mobile manufacturer and the manufacturer of Victory bikes, priced its bikes relatively lower than Harley-Davidson;
- Other competitors such as Kawazaki and Suzuki are forming strategic alliances regarding product design and development, manufacturing and engineering have played an instrumental role in strengthening their global presence in the motorcycle market;
- Honda, which is the main competitor of Harley-Davidson in the United States, has eaten a portion of Harley-Davidson’s market share.
Harley-Davidson
Threats of Potential Entrants
- In the heavyweight motor cycle segment, the entry barrier is high because it is capital intensive and the industry is at the maturity phase
- There are low economies of scale in the heavyweight motorcycle segments, which explains why there are only four companies operating in this segment
- Small scale producers are emerging, who are mainly involved in making customized motor cycles; their production levels does not pose a substantial threat to Harley-Davidson although they are helping to increase the public interest in motor cycles.
Harley-Davidson
Threats of Substitute Products
- It is apparent that the Harley-Davidson bikes are a luxury commodity, which implies that there are few close substitute products for heavyweight bikes that can affect the market substantially.
- Some of the main substitutes for Harley-Davidson bikes include scooter bikers, sports bikes and passenger cars.
- The people who intending to purchase heavyweight motor bikes are not considering the possibility of buying sports bike or scooter bikes.
Harley-Davidson
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
- Harley-Davidson uses several suppliers; thus, if a supplier attempts to raise the price of raw materials, they can opt to switch to alternative suppliers without affecting production
- Shipping of final product, electrical components and steel are the main items that Harley-Davidson seeks from its suppliers.
The Bargaining Power of Customers
- Harley-Davidson’s customers are mostly individual customers; thus, they are less likely to impose substantial implications on the financial position of the company;
- The number of dealers operating in the heavy weight segment worldwide are less and also rely on individual customers; that has no impact on the financial position of Harley-Davidson
Segmentation
Harley-Davidson
How Harley Davidson’s Segmentation Evolved
The popularity of Harley-Davidson was at its peak when baby boomers were growing up and the company has significantly relied on baby boomers for its sales. Harley-Davidson witnessed an increase in sales during the mid 1970s, with most of its customers comprising of baby boomers in their 20s. With the onset of 80s, the company witnessed a substantial decrease in sales, which is primarily attributed to the change in demographic characteristics of its buyers in the sense that baby boomers had began to settle down and raise families (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Harley-Davidson
During the mid 1980s, Harley-Davidson embarked on marketing its motorcycles to young professionals while ensuring that it did not get rid of its traditional customer base comprising of blue collar customers. This strategy yielded substantial success. A survey on the buyers of Harley-Davidson motorcycles pointed out that 96 percent were male, had a media age of 37 and median income of $ 47000. In addition, 49 percent had college and university degrees, 56 percent were married and 43 percent had children. It is apparent that, as time goes, the median age and income of Harley-Davidson’s customers increase, which is a clear indicator that the company has managed to win back its early customers (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009). In addition, women are increasingly becoming part of the Harley-Davidson culture, as evident by the increase by 2-9 percent during 1987-2001. This percentage is anticipated to increase with the strategy of Harley-Davidson targeting the female market. In order to target the average twenty years old customers, who cannot afford to purchase Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the company came up with the V-Rod in order to compete with flashy foreign bikes targeting this age group. However, the V-Rod is expensive for the average twenty year old, which leaves a gap for Harley-Davidson’s marketing strategy to target the younger customers. Overall, Harley-Davidson has used the same type of segmentation since its establishment; this is because the company has consistently embarked on promoting image, charisma and style among its customers; which has been maintained even with demographic changes among its customers. Basically, Harley-Davidson has managed to retain its customers even as they move from one age profile to another (Peng 2008).
Harley-Davidson
Market Segmentation
Since the establishment of Harley-Davidson, its business focus has been mainly in the United States, which implies that its market share was predominantly American. Increasing its market share requires Harley-Davidson to adopt a global strategy in order to increase its presence in other countries. As a result, Harley-Davidson should segment its market to include markets outside America such as Asia, Europe and Africa. This is because Harley-Davidson has been a victim of other foreign companies, such as Japanese motorcycle firms, targeting its market segment in the United States (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009).
Harley-Davidson
The demographic characteristics of the motor cycle market can be analyzed using age and gender. The market for motor cycles is dominated by male customers although Harley-Davidson has witnessed an increase in the percentage of its female customers in the recent past. Given the potential of female bikers, Harley-Davidson should also consider segmenting its market to include female bikers in its customer base. With respect to age, it is apparent that Harley-Davidson has managed to retain its customers even as they grow; however, this strategy is likely to affect its profitability after the boomer generation wipes out. Therefore, it is essential for Harley-Davidson to segment its market to include the younger generation and embark on creating lifetime customers at a relatively younger age whole not alienating its current customer base. The following figure below show the US consumer demographics of Harley-Davidson (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Harley-Davidson
Figure 1: Overall US customer demographics for Harley Davidson
With regard to psychographic variables, Harley-Davidson should segment its market basing on their interests and social class. With regard to interest, it is apparent that Harley-Davidson has already segmented itself in the motorcycle industry by focusing on heavyweight motorcycles. As a result, there is no need to segment the market further basing on consumer interests because the company does has not diversified its product range to cover a range of consumer tastes. With regard to social class and incomes level, Harley-Davidson should segment its market to include median income and high income segments. This draws on the observation that the income levels of Harley-Davidson’s customers has been increasing, as shown in the following figure (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Figure 2: Harley Davidson motorcycles US purchasers median income
Harley-Davidson
Targeting
The above section has highlighted multiple segments that Harley-Davidson could target; thus, the company should the multiple segment specialization technique instead of using one segment when marketing its product. From the segments identified in the section above, Harley-Davidson should embark on effective strategies to target the customer segments (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Harley-Davidson
With respect to age, Harley-Davidson should young adults in their twenties, and other age groups that span from 35-55. In order to achieve this, the company should embark on sponsoring customer events and use hand-on promotion through avenues such as social media, rock concerts and printing T-shirts (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Harley-Davidson
In terms of Gender, Harley-Davidson should place emphasis on the middle class and upper class, which comprise of the biggest group in the United States and offers a potential market. The expensive price of Harley-Davidson bikes implies that the company should not target people from the lower class.
Harley-Davidson
As regard to Gender, it is apparent that the motorcycle market is mostly dominated by men; however, there are emerging trends indicating that women are also increasing adopting the motorcycle culture, which provides an opportunity for Harley-Davidson to target female market segment (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Harley-Davidson
Applying 4 P’s in Harley-Davidson
The Product refers to the item that serves to satisfy the needs of customers, which in this case is the heavyweight Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which include Harley-Davidson FL, Harley-Davidson Sportster, and Harley-Davidson VRDC. An example is shown in the figure below (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Harley-Davidson
Figure 3: Harley Davidson 2002 Sportster 883 Custom
The price refers to the amount that customers pay to buy the product; this is essential because it determines the profit margins and the firm’s survival. The following figure shows the pricing strategy of Harley-Davidson, which usually adopts a pricing strategy that is slightly above its competitors and relies on customer loyalty and quality.
Harley-Davidson
Figure 4: Harley Davidson pricing strategy
Promotion refers to the methods of communication that a firm uses to provide information regarding the different features of its product. With regard to this, Harley-Davidson uses commercials, test rides and events such as the Toys for Tots. The place denotes the geographical region that the firm undertakes its marketing operations, which for the case of Harley-Davidson includes the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Harley-Davidson should consider expanding the geographical scope of its operations (Peng 2008).
Harley-Davidson
Positioning
Harley-Davidson should position itself as a motorcycle for those who are enthusiastic about riding heavyweight motorcycles. In addition, Harley-Davidson should position itself as a high quality motorcycle being sold at retail prices. With diversified markets, in the US, it should retain its symbol of America heritage and image whereas in other markets.
Harley-Davidson
Strategic Recommendations and Implementation
Market Penetration
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson should embark on expanding its market share from the existing market such as the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, which is achievable through the use of marketing techniques such as advertising. It is apparent that Harley-Davidson boasts of a good brand name, which implies that will be relatively easy for the company to eat up the market share of their competitors if the firm has the leverage to offer more customer benefit. Furthermore, with competition increasing in the heavyweight motorcycles segment, particularly in the United States, strategies for market penetration could be an effective measure for the company to stay ahead of its competitors (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009). Another strategic recommendation that Harley-Davidson can use to penetrate the market is to expand the Harley Owners Group to Asia; this draws on the premise that if Harley-Davidson offers the level of customer satisfaction it offers in the United States, then the company increase its sales in Asia and probably establish competitive advantage.
Harley-Davidson
Product Development
It is apparent that the younger generations are increasingly embracing the heavyweight motorcycle; as a result, it is recommended that Harley-Davidson expand its market segment to include females and younger generation. The company should develop motorcycles suited to this market segment in terms of affordability and design. In addition, Harley-Davidson can increase Buell’s market share in Europe through the introduction of new motorcycles (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Harley-Davidson
Market Development
It is evident that Asian countries such as India and China have a high market potential stemming from their high populations. However, the costs of bringing heavyweight motorcycles to India are relatively high and constrained by environmental laws and high tax levies. To curb this, Harley-Davidson can opt to set up a production plant in either India after negotiations with the respective government. Therefore, overall recommendations include expanding market operations to include Asia and European markets; include younger people and females in its market segmentation structure; embark on horizontal diversification through acquiring or developing new products that are likely to appeal to its existing customer segments; and concentric diversification, which entails developing new recreational motorcycles and vehicles (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009).
References List
Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012, Harley-Davidson, viewed 16 October 2012, < http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/home.html?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US >.
Kotler, P & Keller, K 2012, Marketing Management, Pearson Education Limited, New York.
Kotler, P, Keller, K & Brady, M 2009, Marketing Management, Pearson, New York.
Peng, M 2008, Global strategy, Cengage Learning, New York.
Harley-Davidson
SWOT Analysis of Harley-Davidson
SWOT analysis highlights the strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses facing a firm. Harley-Davidson has a number of strengths that the company enjoys relative to its competitors. Harley-Davidson has a reputation for producing motorcycles that represent the American image and spirit. In addition, the company focuses on the production of heavyweight motorcycles that are designed specifically for cruising. The following are the strengths of Harley-Davidson:
- The company has about 70 percent of the market share of the heavy weight motorcycle market;
- It is the only American brand that is known for the production of heavy weight motorcycles;
- The company enjoys a strong brand name, especially with regard to creating perceptions in the minds of the customers associated with strength and freedom;
- Harley-Davidson enjoys a good relationship with its suppliers, which results in cost effectiveness and quality product development;
- The company derives most of its revenue from the customization of motor cycles
- The company enjoys a strong image as regards the good will factor;
- Harley-Davidson enjoys strong distribution and marketing in the United States;
- The foremost strength of the firm stems from customer loyalty;
- The Harley Owners Group, which has about 7,500,00 members world wise is the largest sponsored motorcycle enthusiast organization in the motorcycle industry;
- The company has an effective manufacturing division comprised of customer events, public relations, direct mail advertising, and dealer promotions.
Weaknesses
- The price of Harley-Davidson motorcycles is relatively high, which locks out several potential customers;
- The company has been losing its market share continuously, particularly in Europe;
- An analysis of the future of heavyweight motorcycles market reveals that it is weakening
- The company uses poor marketing techniques, resulting in its inability to attract customers from the global market
- The culture of riding motorcycles is associated with hooliganism, which is likely to reduce its customer base.
Opportunities
- With regard to the global market, the demand for Harley-Davidson motorcycles remains the highest in Europe;
- Harley-Davidson should market its products competitively, particularly in the European market;
- There are other untapped markets for motorcycles such as India;
- The global market for motorcycles is bigger than the United States market;
- Even in regions with low economic levels, Harley-Davidson can take advantage of this opportunity since it is in the minds of people that motorcycle is a more economical means of travel.
Threats
- There are anticipated losses stemming from supply shortages and capacity restraints in recent times;
- According to studies, the median age of Harley-Davidson buyer is 42 years and is continually increasing; the company risks losing its market if the generation wipes out;
- Standards have been increased in the European market;
- A number of competitors of Harley-Davidson are utilizing more resources in their marketing strategies; this is a threat because they can opt to shift their risk factor since they rely on product diversification;
- There is the need for Harley-Davidson to continue operating under Buell division;
- Because of the low cost of motorcycle production and high profit margins, it is highly likely that competitors will saturate the market.
- Compliance with environmental protection requirements
The following figure shows the SWOT matrix for Harley-Davidson (Kotler & Keller 2012).
| SO strategy | ST strategy |
| Expand production to Europe | Increase strong brand name |
| Expand production to Asia | Increase market to younger customer |
| WO strategy | WT Strategy |
| Improve employee relationship | |
Porter’s Analysis on Harley-Davidson Davidson
Rivalry
- There are four major competitors focusing on the heavyweight motorcycle segment; besides Harley-Davidson, other players in the heavyweight segment include Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki, which are all Japanese;
- Some of the core competitors of Harley-Davidson have huge marketing and financial resources and make use of diverse product lines; for instance, motorcycles constitute only half of the revenues;
- Polans, which is an American snow mobile manufacturer and the manufacturer of Victory bikes, priced its bikes relatively lower than Harley-Davidson;
- Other competitors such as Kawazaki and Suzuki are forming strategic alliances regarding product design and development, manufacturing and engineering have played an instrumental role in strengthening their global presence in the motorcycle market;
- Honda, which is the main competitor of Harley-Davidson in the United States, has eaten a portion of Harley-Davidson’s market share.
Threats of Potential Entrants
- In the heavyweight motor cycle segment, the entry barrier is high because it is capital intensive and the industry is at the maturity phase
- There are low economies of scale in the heavyweight motorcycle segments, which explains why there are only four companies operating in this segment
- Small scale producers are emerging, who are mainly involved in making customized motor cycles; their production levels does not pose a substantial threat to Harley-Davidson although they are helping to increase the public interest in motor cycles.
Threats of Substitute Products
- It is apparent that the Harley-Davidson bikes are a luxury commodity, which implies that there are few close substitute products for heavyweight bikes that can affect the market substantially.
- Some of the main substitutes for Harley-Davidson bikes include scooter bikers, sports bikes and passenger cars.
- The people who intending to purchase heavyweight motor bikes are not considering the possibility of buying sports bike or scooter bikes.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
- Harley-Davidson uses several suppliers; thus, if a supplier attempts to raise the price of raw materials, they can opt to switch to alternative suppliers without affecting production
- Shipping of final product, electrical components and steel are the main items that Harley-Davidson seeks from its suppliers.
The Bargaining Power of Customers
- Harley-Davidson’s customers are mostly individual customers; thus, they are less likely to impose substantial implications on the financial position of the company;
- The number of dealers operating in the heavy weight segment worldwide are less and also rely on individual customers; that has no impact on the financial position of Harley-Davidson
Segmentation
How Harley Davidson’s Segmentation Evolved
The popularity of Harley-Davidson was at its peak when baby boomers were growing up and the company has significantly relied on baby boomers for its sales. Harley-Davidson witnessed an increase in sales during the mid 1970s, with most of its customers comprising of baby boomers in their 20s. With the onset of 80s, the company witnessed a substantial decrease in sales, which is primarily attributed to the change in demographic characteristics of its buyers in the sense that baby boomers had began to settle down and raise families (Kotler & Keller 2012).
During the mid 1980s, Harley-Davidson embarked on marketing its motorcycles to young professionals while ensuring that it did not get rid of its traditional customer base comprising of blue collar customers. This strategy yielded substantial success. A survey on the buyers of Harley-Davidson motorcycles pointed out that 96 percent were male, had a media age of 37 and median income of $ 47000. In addition, 49 percent had college and university degrees, 56 percent were married and 43 percent had children. It is apparent that, as time goes, the median age and income of Harley-Davidson’s customers increase, which is a clear indicator that the company has managed to win back its early customers (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009). In addition, women are increasingly becoming part of the Harley-Davidson culture, as evident by the increase by 2-9 percent during 1987-2001. This percentage is anticipated to increase with the strategy of Harley-Davidson targeting the female market. In order to target the average twenty years old customers, who cannot afford to purchase Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the company came up with the V-Rod in order to compete with flashy foreign bikes targeting this age group. However, the V-Rod is expensive for the average twenty year old, which leaves a gap for Harley-Davidson’s marketing strategy to target the younger customers. Overall, Harley-Davidson has used the same type of segmentation since its establishment; this is because the company has consistently embarked on promoting image, charisma and style among its customers; which has been maintained even with demographic changes among its customers. Basically, Harley-Davidson has managed to retain its customers even as they move from one age profile to another (Peng 2008).
Market Segmentation
Since the establishment of Harley-Davidson, its business focus has been mainly in the United States, which implies that its market share was predominantly American. Increasing its market share requires Harley-Davidson to adopt a global strategy in order to increase its presence in other countries. As a result, Harley-Davidson should segment its market to include markets outside America such as Asia, Europe and Africa. This is because Harley-Davidson has been a victim of other foreign companies, such as Japanese motorcycle firms, targeting its market segment in the United States (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009).
The demographic characteristics of the motor cycle market can be analyzed using age and gender. The market for motor cycles is dominated by male customers although Harley-Davidson has witnessed an increase in the percentage of its female customers in the recent past. Given the potential of female bikers, Harley-Davidson should also consider segmenting its market to include female bikers in its customer base. With respect to age, it is apparent that Harley-Davidson has managed to retain its customers even as they grow; however, this strategy is likely to affect its profitability after the boomer generation wipes out. Therefore, it is essential for Harley-Davidson to segment its market to include the younger generation and embark on creating lifetime customers at a relatively younger age whole not alienating its current customer base. The following figure below show the US consumer demographics of Harley-Davidson (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Figure 1: Overall US customer demographics for Harley Davidson
With regard to psychographic variables, Harley-Davidson should segment its market basing on their interests and social class. With regard to interest, it is apparent that Harley-Davidson has already segmented itself in the motorcycle industry by focusing on heavyweight motorcycles. As a result, there is no need to segment the market further basing on consumer interests because the company does has not diversified its product range to cover a range of consumer tastes. With regard to social class and incomes level, Harley-Davidson should segment its market to include median income and high income segments. This draws on the observation that the income levels of Harley-Davidson’s customers has been increasing, as shown in the following figure (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Figure 2: Harley Davidson motorcycles US purchasers median income
Targeting
The above section has highlighted multiple segments that Harley-Davidson could target; thus, the company should the multiple segment specialization technique instead of using one segment when marketing its product. From the segments identified in the section above, Harley-Davidson should embark on effective strategies to target the customer segments (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
With respect to age, Harley-Davidson should young adults in their twenties, and other age groups that span from 35-55. In order to achieve this, the company should embark on sponsoring customer events and use hand-on promotion through avenues such as social media, rock concerts and printing T-shirts (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
In terms of Gender, Harley-Davidson should place emphasis on the middle class and upper class, which comprise of the biggest group in the United States and offers a potential market. The expensive price of Harley-Davidson bikes implies that the company should not target people from the lower class.
As regard to Gender, it is apparent that the motorcycle market is mostly dominated by men; however, there are emerging trends indicating that women are also increasing adopting the motorcycle culture, which provides an opportunity for Harley-Davidson to target female market segment (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Applying 4 P’s in Harley-Davidson
The Product refers to the item that serves to satisfy the needs of customers, which in this case is the heavyweight Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which include Harley-Davidson FL, Harley-Davidson Sportster, and Harley-Davidson VRDC. An example is shown in the figure below (Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012).
Figure 3: Harley Davidson 2002 Sportster 883 Custom
The price refers to the amount that customers pay to buy the product; this is essential because it determines the profit margins and the firm’s survival. The following figure shows the pricing strategy of Harley-Davidson, which usually adopts a pricing strategy that is slightly above its competitors and relies on customer loyalty and quality.
Figure 4: Harley Davidson pricing strategy
Promotion refers to the methods of communication that a firm uses to provide information regarding the different features of its product. With regard to this, Harley-Davidson uses commercials, test rides and events such as the Toys for Tots. The place denotes the geographical region that the firm undertakes its marketing operations, which for the case of Harley-Davidson includes the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Harley-Davidson should consider expanding the geographical scope of its operations (Peng 2008).
Positioning
Harley-Davidson should position itself as a motorcycle for those who are enthusiastic about riding heavyweight motorcycles. In addition, Harley-Davidson should position itself as a high quality motorcycle being sold at retail prices. With diversified markets, in the US, it should retain its symbol of America heritage and image whereas in other markets.
Strategic Recommendations and Implementation
Market Penetration
Harley-Davidson should embark on expanding its market share from the existing market such as the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, which is achievable through the use of marketing techniques such as advertising. It is apparent that Harley-Davidson boasts of a good brand name, which implies that will be relatively easy for the company to eat up the market share of their competitors if the firm has the leverage to offer more customer benefit. Furthermore, with competition increasing in the heavyweight motorcycles segment, particularly in the United States, strategies for market penetration could be an effective measure for the company to stay ahead of its competitors (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009). Another strategic recommendation that Harley-Davidson can use to penetrate the market is to expand the Harley Owners Group to Asia; this draws on the premise that if Harley-Davidson offers the level of customer satisfaction it offers in the United States, then the company increase its sales in Asia and probably establish competitive advantage.
Product Development
It is apparent that the younger generations are increasingly embracing the heavyweight motorcycle; as a result, it is recommended that Harley-Davidson expand its market segment to include females and younger generation. The company should develop motorcycles suited to this market segment in terms of affordability and design. In addition, Harley-Davidson can increase Buell’s market share in Europe through the introduction of new motorcycles (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Market Development
It is evident that Asian countries such as India and China have a high market potential stemming from their high populations. However, the costs of bringing heavyweight motorcycles to India are relatively high and constrained by environmental laws and high tax levies. To curb this, Harley-Davidson can opt to set up a production plant in either India after negotiations with the respective government. Therefore, overall recommendations include expanding market operations to include Asia and European markets; include younger people and females in its market segmentation structure; embark on horizontal diversification through acquiring or developing new products that are likely to appeal to its existing customer segments; and concentric diversification, which entails developing new recreational motorcycles and vehicles (Kotler, Keller & Brady 2009).
References List
Harley Davidson Motorcycles 2012, Harley-Davidson, viewed 16 October 2012, < http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/home.html?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US >.
Kotler, P & Keller, K 2012, Marketing Management, Pearson Education Limited, New York.
Kotler, P, Keller, K & Brady, M 2009, Marketing Management, Pearson, New York.
Peng, M 2008, Global strategy, Cengage Learning, New York.
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