Industry Analysis of Harley-Davidson Motor Company A select few companies throughout the history of American capitalism have become iconic figures that are synonymous with the products they sell, and the Harley-Davidson Motor Company has successfully accomplished this rare feat, engraining the moniker "Harley" in the global lexicon as the emblem of premium motorcycles. While today's generation may consider Harley-Davidson to be a monolith without legitimate competition from domestic motorcycle manufacturers, a careful study of the company's history demonstrates the wide array of difficulties which were encountered over more than a century of operation. It is true that Harley-Davidson dominated the motorcycle manufacturing market throughout the first half of the...

Only through a revolutionary adjustment to the company's business model -- premised on an internal design strategy based on direct customer feedback and the innovative use of test drives to entice potential buyers into making a final purchase -- did Harley-Davidson reclaim its position of preeminence within the fiercely competitive motorcycle manufacturing industry.
By applying the Five Forces of Analysis model first pioneered by Harvard economist Michael Porter, who distinguished similar products from substitute products within his study of external market forces, to the…