Harley Davidosn Case Report
Institute of Social Sciences/ Bahçeşehir University, Executive MBA
Bahçeşehir University, Executive MBA
“Marketing Management”
Harley-Davidson-Creating an Enduring Mystique
Course Instructor: Pınar KILIÇ
Prepared by: Bayar MOHAMMED
Invitation to Make Your Own Analysis & Conclusions:
Do you think Beal’s rejuvenation efforts could have been better handled? Support your conclusions.
My answer will takes 3 tiers:
-Detailing the history of the tough competition between Harley-Davidson Motor Co. & Japanese rivals.
-Evaluating the keen & innovative approaches & efforts made by Vaughan Beals for Harley.
-Final evaluation of the conditions as a whole subject.
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Now before we begin evaluating the rejuvenation efforts of Vaughan Beals, we must have a look at the competition history of Harley Davidson Motor Co. with Japanese rivals before he took over.
The Japanese entered US market in 1959 with Honda being the pioneer.
Honda has made deep inroads into the American motorcycle market.
Honda entrenched firmly in the market of motorcycles & it has been called (Honda-Phenomenon)
Honda focused mainly on the lightweight motorcycle segment as a new segment that has been went unnoticed well by Harley-Davidson.
Other Japanese firms such as Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki soon followed & entered to this growing market.
Following the entrance of Japanese firms into the market, the demand for motorcycles grew rapidly day-by-day (Less than 400,000 motorcycles were registered in USA in 1960 & it became 960,000 in 1964 & 4 Millions by 1971)
Japanese competitors offered more elegant, less noisy, better handling motorcycles with good motor-power power at lower prices.
Prices were set to increase market share without regard to short-term profits
Japanese firms were allocating serious amount of money on
Bahçeşehir University, Executive MBA
“Marketing Management”
Harley-Davidson-Creating an Enduring Mystique
Course Instructor: Pınar KILIÇ
Prepared by: Bayar MOHAMMED
Invitation to Make Your Own Analysis & Conclusions:
Do you think Beal’s rejuvenation efforts could have been better handled? Support your conclusions.
My answer will takes 3 tiers:
-Detailing the history of the tough competition between Harley-Davidson Motor Co. & Japanese rivals.
-Evaluating the keen & innovative approaches & efforts made by Vaughan Beals for Harley.
-Final evaluation of the conditions as a whole subject.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now before we begin evaluating the rejuvenation efforts of Vaughan Beals, we must have a look at the competition history of Harley Davidson Motor Co. with Japanese rivals before he took over.
The Japanese entered US market in 1959 with Honda being the pioneer.
Honda has made deep inroads into the American motorcycle market.
Honda entrenched firmly in the market of motorcycles & it has been called (Honda-Phenomenon)
Honda focused mainly on the lightweight motorcycle segment as a new segment that has been went unnoticed well by Harley-Davidson.
Other Japanese firms such as Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki soon followed & entered to this growing market.
Following the entrance of Japanese firms into the market, the demand for motorcycles grew rapidly day-by-day (Less than 400,000 motorcycles were registered in USA in 1960 & it became 960,000 in 1964 & 4 Millions by 1971)
Japanese competitors offered more elegant, less noisy, better handling motorcycles with good motor-power power at lower prices.
Prices were set to increase market share without regard to short-term profits
Japanese firms were allocating serious amount of money on