Harley Davidson Case Study

1. What do you think are the company’s (Harley Davidson) major strengths & weaknesses? Harley Davidson’s major strengths are: customer loyalty, having a strong and popular brand name, they offer a program called HOG (Harley Owners Group) which has members worldwide and offers Harley owners a variety of benefits, and the only American company that sells heavyweight motorcycles. Some weaknesses of Harley Davidson are: Image, people who ride Harleys are sometimes perceived as “bad boys” or a bike gang member, high cost of bike, and not successful in gaining more market share in some European countries.
2. What are several of the potential opportunities and threats facing Harley? Potential opportunities are: Selling outside of the United States, sales growth from women and younger people, by going to China they will have the potential to gain a large number of loyal customers, depending on region buying a motorcycle is less expensive than a car, so people will be more inclined to buy a motorcycle, and a growth in leisure riding worldwide. Some threats are: Law restrictions of two-wheeled vehicles in certain countries, strikes could cause a loss of production, competition from other companies with lower costs, environmental laws are a lot stricter now.
3. Does Harley have a clear and well stated mission? Please explain why or why not. I believe that Harley Davidson’s mission statement is clear and straight to the point. It is clear that they stand behind every product that they produce and sell to their customers.

4. In terms of the generic competitive strategies model, which strategy does Harley appear to be following? Explain why I believe that Harley seems to be following the focused differentiation strategy. Harley Davidson clearly targets higher-income customers. They ensure that they are providing the best quality bike in the motorcycle market.