Hog Lehman Trikes

Harley Davidson is somewhat hamstrung by a narrow product range and demographic, but there are some good opportunities for the brand. The biggest opportunity lies with the millennials. HD is a brand that relies on a long-term relationship with its customers to drive revenues, and this occurs over a 20-40-year period in their lives. The company's recent run of success was based on the baby boom generation, and while that is declining the next major cohort is the millennials (Ets-Hokin, 2011).

HD needs to start planning now to capture this market at a relatively young age and hold it for three or four decades in order to enjoy sustained success. The other major opportunity is with overseas growth. While HD has long struggled to break into international markets, these markets still hold considerable promise. The Middle East and China in particular are good markets where wealthy clients have plenty of disposable income, good roads to drive on, and a taste for the finest things from around the world.

If HD can position itself as something of an American freedom luxury brand in these two regions, there is a lot of opportunity in both. 2. Harley Davidson faces a number of threats, however. The fact that its future success is tied to two markets it has no real presence in is alarming. If the millennials in particular cannot be attracted to Harley Davidson, the brand is going to struggle to maintain its strong presence in the domestic motorcycle market.

This demographic shift is the company's biggest opportunity, but it is also the company's biggest threat. There is also threat from oil prices. Normally, motorcycles are sufficient consumers of oil for this to have been relevant, but ultimately Harleys are less efficient than many competitor bikes. This might factor into some consumer decisions, especially with the more environmentally-conscious younger generations. Harley Davidson is also susceptible to economic downturn, as its products are essentially luxury purchases. Few people genuinely need a Harley, but they buy them for fun.

Thus, when times are tight, economically, people either cancel or defer plans to buy a new Harley. The company struggled a little bit during the recession, but since that point has seen its revenues improve as the uncertainty about the economic environment has subsided. 3. Lehman Trikes was definitely an opportunity for Harley. Basically, the partnership allowed for knowledge and technology transfer from Lehman to Harley, something that Harley leveraged to its benefit. This helped Harley to improve its competitive position.

I probably shouldn't use the "thrown under a bus" analogy when writing about motorcycles but that is what Harley did to Lehman once it had figured out how to replicate what Lehman was doing. It was an opportunity for Lehman in the short run, in the sense that Harley was his biggest customer; Lehman was dependent on.