Two Companies in Economic Downturn - Essay Example

For about four years General Motors have been losing in the market but Harley Davis has been gaining. Ultimately GM has failed after a loss of about $82 billion in 2008 and Harley is still survived with a net gain of $3.6 billion. Both are in the automobile manufacturing business and based in USA.( Branding Strategy August 09) Harley too has faced the slowdown recently in the period of recession but it did not close down. GM is multi-brands company and Harley has a single core product. It competes with brands like Honda, BMW.

GM also competes with these brands in the market. The main difference behind the Harley’s success is that the company has built a strong brand image in the market focusing on its heavy duty motorcycles. GM on the opposite went on adding to its brands without focusing them on any single segment. GM had twelve brands in the market Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Opel, Pontiac, Daewoo, Holden, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, and Wuling. These vehicles were not free from problems. Customers were not happy about the performance of these vehicles.

GM had put the focus on these brands in order to sell them and not at all on how to solve the problems. Customers remained dissatisfied and that eventually put GM into problem. This is case of ‘Supply power’ that Porter in his theory Porter’s 5 forces mentioned explaining how erosion of brand loyalty penalizes a big company.( Brand Position workshop) Harley always projected the brand HOG to prospective customers and explained what the brand stands for. HOG grabbed 46% of the Heavy-duty motorcycle market and entered the name among the world’s 50th most valuable brand.

GM was nowhere in the list. In 2007 GM made about 7,450.000 vehicles and lost $4141 on every vehicle. GM never projected what their brands stand for except dreamy and vague captions such as “See the USA in your