Harley-Davidson Motor Company is an American producer of motorcycles, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company produces and sell heavy motorcycles, used for highway racing. The peculiarity of Harley’s marketing policy is in the fact, that the company strives to create the community of customers, that are loyal particularly to this brand. Beside the motorcycles, the company also produces a wide range of commodities. Clothes, shoes, furniture or dishes, produced by Harley-Davidson enable the customers to follow the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. Each owner of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle can enter HOG – the club of Harley-Davidson lovers.
The history of the company, however, started with a failure. William S. Harley and his friend Arthur Davidson tried to create a bicycle with an engine, but their first creation wasn’t able to drive even a couple of meters. In 1904 the first real Harley-Davidson motorbike appeared and got the fourth place in the local races. This was quite a victory for the young inventors. The creation of the first motorbike took place in a small wooden cabin, which later was preserved as a memorial of poverty, in which the company was created. Unfortunately, the memorial cabin was ruined in 1970-s.
In 1906 a factory was built, and Harley-Davidson started to launch their motorbikes to the market. At fist they sold only 50 motorcycles a year, but the next year the number amounted to 150. Harley-Davidsons were used by the police before World War II, and during the war Harley-Davidson worked for army orders. After the war the number of motorbikes sold was counted in dozens of thousands. This was a success, which remains nowadays. Today Harley-Davidson is a symbol of freedom and of American dream coming true – that is probably why Harley-Davidson’s HOG club has more members, than any other motorcycle club in the world.
