Harley-Davidson Analysis

Harley-Davidson, a company that has been around for more than 100 years has steadily climbed to the top of their global market. With net and gross profits steadily increasing Harley Davidson hopes to be producing 400,000 bikes a year in 2007. Despite the steady climb of revenues many critics are unsure of Harley-Davidson's success in the upcoming years. Baby boomers are said to be playing a key role in Harley's success, but analysts suspect that within the next 5 to 10 years, fewer baby boomers will be interested in riding motorcycles. In order to continue on the road to success Harley-Davidson needs to adapt to it new market; generation X and Y. Motorcyclist were once viewed as a hard, rough crowed; are now branching out into all classes of people. Generation X and Y no longer wants the vintage looking bikes that Harley is famous for they, want something new, unique and mainstream.

In order to be successful and achieve a goal of producing 400,000 motorcycles in the year 2007, Harley-Davidson needs to modify their strategy to specifically target new customers; generation X and Y. A way for Harley-Davidson to do this would be "build to order bikes". Today's consumer wants choices and a unique product. "Build to order bikes" would give the customer the chance to build a custom bike from the frame up using a set list of parts and styles. This new strategy would meet the demands of today's customer and help Harley-Davidson advance in its market. Harley's current financial state gives them some flexibility to experiment with this new idea. Although "build to order bikes" would greatly increase the inventory on hand and increase the wait time of bikes; in return customers will flock to the new chance of having a bike custom built specifically for them by a well know name that can be trusted. Since the average Harley rider now makes $75,000 a year, this new approach will help increase revenues by appealing to the high class Harley-Davidson riders.