LEHMAN TRIKES: A STORY WITHIN A STORY

Donald C. Looney, Black Hills State University

CASE DESCRIPTION

The primary subject matter of this case is strategic alliances. Secondary issues include business strategy, entrepreneurship and marketing. The case explores the dynamics of an alliance between Harley-Davidson and a small, entrepreneurial, niche market company, Lehman Trikes.

CASE SYNOPSIS

As the world was in the midst of a crippling recession, on July 22, 2008, Harley-Davidson unveiled the new Tri Glide three-wheeled motorcycle at the annual dealer meeting in Las Vegas. At the same meeting Lehman Trikes, a small but rapidly growing leading manufacturer of three-wheeled motorcycles, announced that it would be the exclusive supplier to Harley-Davidson of the Tri Glide. Ron Hutchinson, senior vice president of product development for Harley-Davidson said, “This is a big deal. The three-wheeled market is a market that we believe has been effectively underserved because it has been done in the aftermarket.” (Pitlick, Harley trikes to be built here, 2008) While the entrance of Harley-Davidson into the trike market would obviously legitimize and add enormous growth opportunities for the three-wheel segment of the motorcycle market, would it profoundly change Lehman’s environment and business model? Dan Patterson, then CEO of Lehman Trikes, would later cryptically write of the event in the 2008 Third Quarter Report, “We are truly pleased to have Harley-Davidson as both a competitor and a business associate” (Lehman Trikes, 2008).

LEHMAN TRIKES HISTORY AND BUSINESS OVERVIEW

Lehman Trikes began in 1984, literally in John Lehman’s garage in Alberta, Canada, with a project to build a three-wheel motorcycle for his wife. With the help of friends, John fashioned a Chevrolet differential and a metal body onto a 1981