Hurley-Davidson Case Study
In addition, the company bought out all right distribution in Japan in the same year (596-597). The number of product lines and the attractive series of products are also characteristics for the company. As of 1991 , Harley-Davidson offered a line of 20 motorcycles.
Other than XSL Supporters 883 and XSL Supporters 883 Hugger which had chain drives, all models were belt driven and had a five-speed transmission. Three of the Supporters models had an chic engine and one had a chic engine: all of the remaining model had a chic engine.
There are two kinds of models touring model and standard and cruising types. All of the models exhibited impressive painting and classic styling attributes visually reminiscent of Harley-Davidson motorcycles from the sass and 1 sass (597-598). In terms of wide range of products, the company offers a motorcycle that Is lower slung and easier to ride In response to an Increase of the number of women who buy Hurley motorcycles(602-603)_ The Hurley-Division’s original magazine, Enthusiast, was started publishing to let customers who had a bias to Hurley motorcycles got closer to the products.
The catalogs have full color pictures, descriptions of each model, and discussions of the reduces (602). In 1990, the Harley owner Group had 650 chapters and 134,000 members, and, In addition to national, regional, and state rallies and other events, HOG members and Harley management had meetings to provide suggestions for product improvements (602). The company has a Designer Store program to Improve the appearance, Image, and merchandising of Its products at the retail level (602).
The weakness of Hurley-Davidson There are some complaints in various models – poor suspension, high-effort brakes, awkward riding position, short fuel range, engine vibration, and poor seat (598). Another problem Is that most of people have such a hard-core Image about Hurler’s products, Ana It Is turning TOT a lot AT people, even tong people Disloyally approve AT Harley-Davidson (602). Even though Hurley-Division’s superhighways motorcycle dominated the market, the overall motorcycle market share had been the lowest in five major competitors, Honda, Yamaha, Seasick, Suzuki, and Harley-Davidson from 1985 to 1989 (603).
The External Opportunity to Hurley-Davidson In the early sass, Japanese manufacturers entered the marketplace with lightweight motorcycles that did not directly compete with Harley-Davidson, and the emergence of Japanese products that were backed by huge marketing programs boosted the demand for motorcycle in the U. S (593). In addition, Hand’s 1990 strategy included cutting back prices and a $75 million advertising campaign to reintroduce the “wholesome” angle of cycling to reach new market segments.
This promotional emphasis gave Americans an idea that is the use of motorcycles for commuting as an alternative to cars as pervading view in Europe and Asia. Thus, sometimes, apparently competitive companies bring a fresh air that boosts the market itself (603).
The U. S. Government owns the International Trade Commission (TIC), which can offer protection to a U. S. Industry being threatened by a foreign competitor. Once the company faced the difficulty of shrink of market share due to Japanese products’ fierce attack, it asked the TIC to raise the tariffs on large Japanese motorcycles (549).
From 1987 to 1988, the value of yen increased from 250 to 120, and the change of value put Japanese competitors in a tough situation since they needed to raise prices. In the fact, Honda had to raise its prices even more to cover its expensive new oodles and become less price competitive (603). However, if the opposite situation happens, Japanese companies get an advantage, so this fluctuation in exchange could be either an advantage or a disadvantage for Hurley-Davidson.
The External Threat to Hurley-Davidson Other foreign manufacturers might get in the U. S. Motorcycle market.
In the fact, some Japanese companies moved into the heavyweight motorcycle market and began selling Harley look-alike motorcycles in sass (593). In general, people think that death rate from motorcycle accidents is higher than from car accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that in a crash, a person was 17 times more likely to die on a motorcycle than in a car (603).
If this figure is getting higher, the demand for motorcycle should be decreasing. Un uncertain future situation bothers the company.
A future might be fraught with problem. For example, the company faces much larger, well-financed competitors in the industry. The company feces increasing legislation on motorcycle helmet use and noise abatement laws that could decrease industry sales (604). This is why the company must plan Tort Its Torture to Keep ten situation stable.
