Word: davidson
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...been a grueling few weeks for American companies, but particularly so for Harley-Davidson, purveyor of bikes that easily top $30,000. Last month, the company reported that its fourth-quarter global sales fell 13.1%. Last year, its profits sank nearly 30%. And it's been a wipeout for investors: Harley-Davidson's stock price has plunged nearly 70%, to $11.96 a share in mid-February, from $37.34 a share one year ago. Americans haven't lost reverence for Harley-Davidson, but a key problem is that people are simply less willing to spend money on luxury items. Overall motorbike...
...Facebook video, the screen is filled with a sea of 20-something men and women cruising on sleek black motorbikes, all of them Harley-Davidson's Sportster Iron 883s. It's part of a marketing campaign to generate buzz around the newest Sportster. "That's hot!" one woman declares on Harley-Davidson's Facebook page, where other minidocumentaries promoting the bike are posted...
Back at Harley's Milwaukee headquarters, one can only hope for heat. Priced at roughly $8,000, the Sportster is positioned to help one of the world's most iconic brands survive the gravest economic crisis in decades. But it must also help Harley-Davidson move beyond its aging baby-boomer base. (See pictures of Harley-Davidson's evolution...
...1980s, when it nearly went bankrupt. "Clearly it's a challenging environment, and we're doing all the right things in this environment to position our premium brand in this marketplace to make sure we're even stronger when we're out of this cycle," says Tom Bergmann, Harley-Davidson's chief financial officer...
...Harley-Davidson has been through a few cycles. It was founded in Milwaukee in 1903, and within a decade built itself into a global business. It survived the Great Depression by selling to police departments. In 1957, it introduced the Sportster, a sleeker, less expensive alternative to the company's popular touring bikes and a response to a wave of British imports. The Sportster's relatively small size made it appealing to women. But by the 1970s, motorcycling had become a marginalized sport. Its renaissance came in the late 1980s, driven largely by baby boomers' new affluence. From...