Born to be Mild? Harley goes after upscale clientele
The Seattle Times
714-01
seattletimes.nwsource.com
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excerpts from the article:
The specs are a turnoff to old Hells Angels types who love the roar and shake
of the classic Dyna or the Road King.
But industry analysts say the Milwaukee-based company is trying to broaden its
appeal to younger, richer Americans and buyers in Europe and Asia.
The company's loyal legion of great unshaven fans — who have long shunned
sleek foreign performance bikes — already say the V-Rod threatens a nearly
century-old tradition.
Analysts, however, counter that Harley-Davidson is at a critical crossroads and
must reach beyond its aging U.S. market to lure buyers who favor speed and
handling over classic looks and noise.
"There is only a finite pool of big guys with bellies and beards going around,
and Harley has to get away from the rough-and-tumble image," said Joseph
Yurman, an analyst at Bear Stearns in New York.
Harley-Davidson, founded in 1903, has been the uncontested market leader in big
cruiser bikes, and even without the V-Rod, it is expected to capture about 62
percent of that sector this year — about 100,000 sales.
Don Brown of Irvine, Calif., an independent analyst who follows the motorcycle
industry, said Harley also led its competitors in U.S. sales in 1999, but lost
that spot to Honda last year and is expected to lose more ground this year.
The competition is expected to get even tougher now that Harley has set its
sights on a market that has so far eluded it — wealthy males between 35 and
44 years old. There are about 22 million males in that age group and 50,000 are
considered potential motorcycle buyers.
So far, most of them have been buying Japanese bikes, such as the Yamaha Road
Star Warrior, Honda VTX and Gold Wing.
Meanwhile, Harley customers are aging. The average owner is now 45, up from 38
a decade ago. Twenty percent of owners are now 55 or older.
"If you don't replace those people, then your consumer base dies off," said Tim
Conder, who follows Harley for A.G. Edwards & Sons.
"This is their way to begin to reorient themselves to the performance side of
the market — to say that Harley is not just a big, old bike, but that it also
has some pretty significant technology behind it," Yurman said. |
