... Thorr Motorcycles is a company started with a history of its strength and uniqueness, kind of like the Harley-Davidson of current times. Many people understand that this motorcycle brand is one to work up to. Many motorcycle lovers know that some of the types of bikes are bought by different age groups; some people prefer the shorter distance style bikes for their sleekness, speed, and price range. More experienced or even older bikers prefer the cruisers or long-range bikes for their style, comfort, and look. The problem with Thorr’s company is that the cruiser bike is losing sales. Whether this be because older people not being able to afford these style bikes, lack of interest or just changes within the motorcycling culture this bike needs to be revisioned by consumers. This problem has been an issue with Buick in the past. Their cars and SUVs were being noted as elderly styled vehicles. Buick took initiative and tried to advertise ways that made their cars more current and updated as compared to years before to entice the younger age groups. Although their attempt was less successful than hoped, they are still running and selling vehicles. The solutions for the sales drop is the ideas of publicizing Thorr’s cruiser in Hollywood films and the Internet, decreasing the price of the current cruiser models, financial services within Thorr, better service programs, and free trial...
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...produce a component for the growing field of radio transmission. The first product Ducati manufactured was called Manens and it functioned as a condenser for radio equipment. The product was very successful throughout the world and in result it allowed the company to expand and win international respect and prestige. (Ducati's History, 2012) The first motorcycle Ducati manufactured was after the Second World War- the "Il - Cucciolo". It turned out to be a big success and that marked the beginning of a new era for Ducati. During the 1950's Ducati introduced, developed and manufactured powerful motorcycles that were reliable and technically advanced. Ducati’s success was interpreted to rapid growth and reputation in the industry. (Gavetti, 2002) In the process to evaluate Ducati, it is essential to understand the aspects from the management perspective. During the 1980's and early 90's Ducati changed their management constantly which resulted a lack of overall strategic direction. Ducati was on the verge of bankruptcy before Federico Minoli took the reins in 1996 and made the company one of the most profitable motorcycle manufacturers in the world. Minoli thought that by defining a strategic goal and restating Ducati's mission and vision, it will eventually turn Ducati into a profitable brand-driven company. Minoli’s plan was to focus on brand building, product differentiation, and to increase efficiency in the production process. How did Ducati...
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...profitable motorcycle manufacturers in the world; a mechanical concern into a global brand; a fast motorcycle into a symbol of Italian design and tradition, extreme performance, and technical excellence. Under Minoli, Ducati had enjoyed explosive growth and profitability. Revenues had quadrupled since 1996; EBITDA had grown from 33.4 million Euros in 1997 to around 60.0 million Euros in 2000; the market share had gone from 5.1% in the sport bikes segment in 1997 to 6.7% in 2000 (see Exhibit 1). Despite this success, Minoli was concerned with the future of the company. He knew that Ducati could not grow indefinitely, and was struggling with what strategy might overtake these bounds. Minoli and the rest of Ducati’s top management team were considering different alternatives. One alternative was to attack Harley Davidson’s niche with a Ducati interpretation of a cruiser. Was this broadening of Ducati’s traditional niche the right move to sustain the profitable growth of the company? The Market for Motorcycles in 2001 The roots of the motorcycle industry date back to 1868, when Louis Perraux installed a steam engine on a rudimentary bicycle. In 1894, the Hildebrand brothers and Alois Wolfmüller produced the first motorcycle with an internal-combustion, two-cylinder gasoline engine. The motorcycle quickly became a cultural icon. As T. Krens, the curator of “The Art of the Motorcycle” exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, observed: The motorcycle is a perfect...
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...Stotts, Charles B. Shrader and Samuel M. DeMarie Victory: The New American Motorcycle Celebrates Its First Decade on the Road Now that we are in our 10th year and have a fairly complete line of premium cruiser and touring motorcycles, it is clear what we stand for, and who we appeal to most. Victory stands for class-leading quality, innovation and style. Victory is American and new- always looking forward. We are all about the future of American motorcycles. - Mark Blackwell, Victory Vice President1 Mark Blackwell, vice president in charge of Victory Motorcycle at Polaris Industries, glanced up at company headquarters in Medina, Minnesota as he pulled his gleaming cruiser into the parking lot. An accomplished rider himself, winning the national 500cc motocross championship and being inducted into the American Motorcycle Association’s Hall of Fame, he knew his company’s bikes had come pretty far since they were first introduced to the riding public in 1998. With the development of the new Vision, a luxury touring bike, and the steady release of aggressively-styled cruisers, the company had continually innovated throughout its first decade in business. Yet Blackwell pondered the recurring questions facing Victory Motorcycles and Polaris. He wondered if the initial decision to diversify into heavyweight motorcycles was the right road to take. He realized Polaris took a big risk by moving into motorcycles and going up against the recognized powerhouses in the industry. He questioned...
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...Conlon Daniel Adkins Eric Huffman Kyle Hahn Table of Contents Introduction Page 3 Global Competition Page 3 New Competition Page 5 Competitive Remakes and Accessories Page 7 Motorcycle Buyers Page 9 Motorcycle Company Websites Page 11 Conclusion Page 13 Works Cited Page 14 Introduction Over the past few years, Harley Davidson has had to make numerous changes to remain competitive. The first thing we will take a look at is global competition. Harley Davidson’s increasing demand overseas has caused many changes over the past few years. The second thing we will take a look at is new competition. The demographics of the nation have been changing, due to the aging of the “baby boomers,” and Harley has to make changes in order to keep up with the competition of the market. New competition ranges for sport bikes to other competing cruiser models. The third thing we will look at is competitive remakes and accessories. The competition for Harley is on the rise due to the high interest in custom motorcycles and cheaper accessories. The fourth thing we will take a look at is motorcycle buyer’s demographics. The market is ever changing and it is important to look at how Harley is adapting to these changes. The final thing we will address is how the World Wide Web has affected the growth of the company. This company has been able to adapt to...
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...Harley Davidson faces off competition from four globally known and well established companies. These are Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and BMW Motorcycle. 1. BMW Motorcycle BMW has been in operation since 1922 and has grown into a global corporate giant. With a strong focus on automobile and motorcycle markets, BMW functions with over 100,000 employees around the world and it's headquarter in Munich, Germany (Data Monitor, 2009). BMW holds considerable dominance in the European Market and offers consumers with a wide array of automotive products and services including insurance, reinsurance and consultation services for information technology. BMW is Harley Davidson's most significant competitor since both companies are fairly similar in terms of their brand image (Knol, 2008). Both BMW and Harley Davidson engage in intensive competition in terms of their marketing strategies and BMW continues to fashion its marketing strategies to appeal to customers currently loyal to Harley Davidson. 2. Suzuki The Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japan based company with a human capital of over 14,200 and operations in Asia, America, North America, Japan and Europe. It manufactures and sells motorcycles such as those made for super sport, street, cruiser, off-road, motocross and dual purpose motorcycles amongst others (Data Monitor, 2010). Much like Honda, Suzuki has thrived on account of its strong Research & Development department. Suzuki holds a strong foothold in the Asian market with its economy...
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...Genuine Harley Davidson Parts Sales Recovery Marketing Plan Mark McLean BUS620 Dr. Patricia Ryan October 31, 2011 0.1 Company Overview Harley-Davidson, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is head quartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The motorcycle company produces and sells heavyweight, cruiser class motorcycles, and supports its customers with motorcycle parts, accessories, and related financial services. Harley –Davidson functions within two segments; Motorcycles and Related Products, and Financial Services. The Motorcycles and Related Products segment include the design, manufacture, and sale of the heavyweight touring, custom, and performance motorcycles. This segment covers a very large geographic area that covers North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia/Pacific, and Latin America markets. To support its customers and add additional revenues, Harley-Davidson or H-D, makes available a line of motorcycle parts and accessories, including replacement parts, and mechanical and cosmetic accessories; general merchandise, such as apparel and accessories; and related services. Also, this segment manufactures five families of motorcycles and three brands. The motorcycle families are Touring, Dyna, Softail, Sportster, and VRSC and the three brands are Harley-Davidson, Buell, and Cagiva (Hoovers Company Records, Harley-Davidson, Inc). The second segment called Financial Services provides wholesale and retail financing, and insurance and insurance-related...
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...also make the whole process of buying and selling a lot easier. These are the financials involved. We estimate that online portal will cost us around $3 million. With the revenue that we will generate from it, cost of portal will be covered in 341 days. 2) Service Customization As per the recent trend, many clients don’t want full range of auction services. Hence sometimes they bypass auctions and directly contact growers. Taking this into account, we have decided to offer clients what they want. Auctioneers will offer services in the form of bundles. Clients can customize their bundles as per their needs. 3. Situational Analysis 3.1. SWOT Analysis Strengths: * Rich heritage ( Considered America’s original motorcycle company) * Strong brand equity because of snowmobiles and off-road vehicles * Strong supply chain and distribution channel of parent company (Polaris): Polaris' marketing activities are designed to promote and communicate directly with consumers as well as to assist the selling and marketing efforts of its dealers and distributors. The company provides and advertises discount or rebate programs, retail financing or other incentives for its dealers and distributors to remain price competitive in order to accelerate retail sales to consumers and gain market share. Polaris advertises its products directly using print advertising in the industry press and in user group publications, billboards, television and radio. Hence, wide marketing...
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...STRATEGIC AUDIT HARLEY DAVIDSON Inc Audit Team: Graeme Eldridge Enya Gu Areeya Ongmongkonkun John Gao CONTENTS |Case Abstract |3 | |History |4 | |Current Situation | | |Performance |5 | |Strategic Position | | |Mission |5 | |Objectives |5 | |Strategy |6 | |Policies |6 | |Corporate Governance | ...
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...DUCATI CASE 1. How did Ducati become the second most profitable motorcycle maker in the world despite its small scale? Through out what we call a “Turnaround program” leaded by the Italian Federico Minoli. I believe his experience in turnaround management during his stay in Bain & Co. and his previous jobs in Procter & Gamble and McKinsey gave him a tremendous background to manage a company such as Ducati. However, as we have seen in the case, the Italian firm has nothing to do with other motorcycle companies. Ducati is unique because of its culture and huge potential that was hidden before Federico’s arrival. As he said, “I accepted [the chance] to run Ducati because I saw a company that, beyond its liquidity crisis, needed to be radically changed in order to fully exploit its enormous potential.” In this sense, it had to be an Italian CEO the one in charge of a strategy that ended up in what “The World of Ducati” is today. Minoli stablished from a good mission statement an even better vision statement. He had clear ideas of what his goals were and started from the very basis. This was by putting together a talented group of engineers that felt the companies as theirs. These people were “the Ducati’s soul” (as Minoli used to call them). In my opinion, this principle is something that every person who runs a business should take into account. A good manager is one who is surrounded by others better than him, and if these people perform in a company...
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...CEO of Ducati in order to lead the company into a new era of profitability and to establish Ducati as a brand to contend with in the sports motorcycle segment. In the years preceding the revolutionary turnaround, the company changed hands a number of time which resulted in a lack of overall strategic direction. Minoli was faced with a company which, despite having a team of top engineers, had gained a reputation for average quality as a result of inefficient production and poor management. Until 1996 it was driven by the imaginations of its engineers rather than by goal-oriented strategic decisions. Minoli described Ducati’s top management as operating in “a structured chaos” (Gavetti, 2004, pp.861). He believed that by incorporating certain basic structural changes and by redefining company’s strategic goals, it could be turned into a profitable brand-driven company. Ducati’s turnaround focused on brand building which was supported by the reconfiguration of a number of activities ranging from increased efficiency in the production process to broadening its customer base. Having almost doubled its market share in 2001, Minoli wanted to find new sources of growth. Among others he considered the cruiser market, currently dominated by Harley Davidson. His goal was to compete directly with Harley Davidson in Europe by introducing a cruiser that combined Ducati’s high performance engine with its own unique design. This essay will begin with a SWOT analysis of Ducati as it stands...
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...that this was a turnaround situation, with Ducati in 1996 close to bankruptcy. A new management team led by Minoli changed strategy with clear objectives of aggressive growth within a niche of the sports segment and competing as a focussed differentiator. The logic of the turnaround can be conceptualised as follows (a) Ducati reduced costs without affecting the WTP for the physical product (i.e. the quality and reliability of the product has increased despite reduced costs). Major reductions were in motorcycle material costs (from 68.2% to 59% of unit costs, exhibit 12) and can be attributed to the following factors: (1) rationalised suppliers from 200 to 130 with the effect of increasing the quality of suppliers and Ducati’s bargaining power (2)Ducati increased its outsourcing from 80% to 90% and thus tapped more the potential of the Emilian mechanical district (3) Ducati further increased its bargaining leverage by instituting dual sourcing for the major components of the motorcycle and adopted short-term contracts (4) Ducati enjoyed economies of scale by increasing output from 12000 bikes in 1996 to 39000 in 2000 (5) Ducati increased the standardisation of its products (parts) and thus increased the bikes produced per worker from 76 to 87 in 200 (14% increase) (exhibit 13). (b) Ducati increased costs to boost WTP for the product’s intangible aspects (i.e. sport character, community, design, exclusivity, Italianess, tradition etc). The essence of the turnaround was the decision...
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...would be seen as a successful plan in reinventing Ducati as a global brand and broadening its spectrum of customers. By looking at exhibits 1 and 3 in the casebook, we can see how Ducati’s market share (in its relevant market) nearly doubled from 1996 to 2001. Despite its small scale, Ducati was able to effectively create a strong global brand. We also see a steady growth of sales in every product line Ducati offers in exhibit 8. This was the road Ducati took to become the second most profitable motorcycle maker in the world. But in 2001, Minoli was at the end of the turnaround and needed to make a decision on how to keep expanding Ducati’s growth and profitability. To keep expanding, Minoli was considering if Ducati should expand into the cruiser market, which was Harley Davidson’s niche market. As Ducati’s management team, we will discuss whether it is best for the company to expand into a new market and if it can sustain its position in its niche market (sport motorcycles). To help decide whether we would expand or consider another alternative, we...
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...Cameron Sigler MGT 3830 – Case 2 September 24, 2013 Ducati Motorcycles Analysis In order to understand the potential decisions and trade offs available for Ducati to organize its strategic plan, a thorough analysis of the motorcycle industry was essential. In 1996, Ducati Motorcycles operated in a highly unattractive industry. The forces of competition were strong. The high bargaining buyer of buyers, the moderate bargaining power of suppliers, threat of substitutes, and the threat of new entrants fueled this situation. Ducati competed with other notable firms that manufactured similar bikes that were comparable in price and quality. These factors lowered the switching costs for buyers and created an intense rivalry among competitors. While all of the manufacturers relied on a large amount of suppliers for their production needs, this emphasized a great responsibility for the manufacturing firms to consistently manage their suppliers. Ducati motorcycles have historically differentiated themselves from their competitors due to a respected excellence racing and in its niche market, sport bikes. While only manufacturing a small amount of motorcycle, Ducati bikes were easily recognized by their sleek, unique design, distinct sound, and advanced technology. While any company could choose to produce a motorcycle, it was a difficult market to enter, due to heavy weight competitors that had an established brand loyalty with their customers. Frederico Minoli discovered...
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...Having a good “tough image” and great marketing plan has kept the US motorcycle king afloat for over 100 years and will undoubtedly, as it attracts new riders, will be around for many years to come. The Hollywood scripts and early magazines depicting the young, wild motorcycle rider became less and less a reality in the late 1990’s, according to Motorcycle Industry Council statistics. Even in the 1990s, riders became more mainstream. The typical heavyweight segment motorcyclist in 2009 was male, 42 years old, married, and had a college degree. A motorcycle industry’s census showed that there were more riders, more households, more women and more young buyers. Since 2003, the number of motorcycles owned and used in America grew 19 percent to approximately 10.4 million. That is a 58 percent increase from 1998 (6.6 million). The average income of the motorcyclist in 2009 had more than tripled since 1980 ($17,500). In 2009, motorcycle owner household income averaged $59,290 while the U.S. average was $50,233. Riders are also much older. The typical rider was interested in the outdoors. In surveys about their other interests besides motorcycling, fishing and hunting topped the list. The baby boomers that had experienced Harley-Davidson in their youth are expected to decrease their demand for motorcycles as they age. The problem for Harley-Davidson is that it does not produce the kinds of motorcycles which are increasingly in demand in our time. To remain competitive,...
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