1) Review the instructor's feedback provided to you in Assignments 1-8.2) Edit and update Assignments 1-8 using the feedback provided to you by the instructor.3) Using a Word document, set up the writ
SWOT Harley Davidson
Identify the strengths of this company.
Harley Davidson are experts in custom/chopper motorcycle production.
Product Range: With its diversified product range like recently introduced Street 500CC & 750 CC, Harley is trying to solve the ageing problem of the current customer base so as to make it more promising to the younger generation.
High Customer Pull: Harley’s distinguished promotional strategies & branding has helped the company in creating a strong customer population thereby having a high TOMA score (Top of the mind awareness score).
Loyal Customer Base: With a strong image of quality and ‘freedom’ Harley has crafted its position in the market which is also backed by Harley Davidson Merchandising.
With more than a century of experience Harley Davidson is considered a strong company, ensuring the businesses stability despite aggressive and low-cost competitors.
Identify the weaknesses of the company.
Harley Davidson is overly dependent on the U.S. market. More than 65% of the revenue is coming from the U.S. market. Because the U.S. market has its own limitation in terms of growth, it has become riskier for Harley to generate majority of its revenue from U.S. (Bhasin, 2020).
(a.) Outside U.S Harley Davidson has a manufacturing unit only in India & one assembling plant in Brazil making prices to the exported countries a higher. In addition, Harley is very dependent on these 3 facilities to fulfill the global demand.
Narrow product mix: Harley-Davidson’s narrow product mix is a weakness because it prevents the business from reaching more market segments.
Limited market reach: Harley-Davidson is also weak because most of its sales are generated in North America.
Limited supply chain: Harley-Davidson has a limited supply chain, relaying on Single/Limited Suppliers can affect the company’s business in long run. This hinders potential expansion in the global motorcycle market.
Identify the opportunities for the company.
Asian & Europe Markets: The demand for Harley, in the developing Asian & European nations is increasing and there are hardly any players competing in this sector. For this reason, it is very important for Harley to capture these markets aggressively.
Women & Young Riders: By increasing marketing efforts towards untouched segments, they can increase customer population in women and young riders. For example, in 2000, women riders were purchasing about 15,000 motorcycles per year. In just 5 years, sales to women had jumped to over 30,000 motorcycles per year. In 2006, women accounted for 12% of all bike sales (Bhasin, 2020).
Alliances with complementary businesses: Harley-Davidson has the opportunity to establish business alliances to increase its market reach, similar to its partnership with Lehman Trikes.
Product diversification: the company can broaden its product mix to include a more diverse array of motorcycles, merchandise, and related products.
Identify the threats for the company.
Biased Approach: Being market biased can affect the Harley brand. With such a huge dependence on the U.S. market i.e. 65% of current sales coming from the U.S. market could potentially jeopardize the company if the economy collapsed.
Substitutes & imitation: Aside from aggressive competitors; more & more companies manufacturing large motorcycles are going global such as Indian Motorcycles, Vector Motorcycles, Triumph Motorcycles, etc., these substitutes with low prices can affect the overall business of Harley. The company also faces the threat of imitation, especially now that other companies are also offering custom/chopper bikes.
Increasing preferences for electric vehicles: Harley’s product are known for internal combustion engines and with the environmentalism trend changing, this has a negative impact on Harley-Davidson. In order to overcome this Harley-Davidson must implement product innovation strategies and push the boundaries in their manufacturing developments.
References
Bhasin, H. (2020, January 25). SWOT analysis of Harley Davidson - Harley Davidson SWOT. Retrieved June 14, 2020, from https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-harley-davidson/
Greenspan, R. (2017, February 07). Harley-Davidson SWOT Analysis. Retrieved June 14, 2020, from http://panmore.com/harley-davidson-swot-analysis
