The basic solution is to sell more motorcycles. In order to do so Harley Davidson must
not only keep making motorcycles that are attractive to consumers faced with a
growing number of options but also strengthen its brand name in order to further
differentiate its product from those made by its competitors. One reason that analysts
predict sales growth will soften in the future is the lack of significant changes between
bike model years. Instead of redesigning certain aspects of certain models or
completely redesigning whole lines of motorcycles between model years Harley
Davidson has recently been content to leave models essentially the same and instead
tweak little things like the speedometer design or the radio. By not significantly
changing bike designs from year to year Harley Davidson is removing incentive for
people to buy the latest models. Instead of buying a bike new from a dealer a consumer
could by a used bike instead and would be essentially buying the same machine.
Harley Davidson needs to refocus on producing cutting edge bike designs that will
continue to be attractive to existing Harley Davidson owners and still bring new riders
in the Harley Ownership Group