William A. Davidson
 |
|
| Public company | |
| Traded as | : HOG S&P 500 Component |
| Founded | 1903 |
| Founder |
William S. Harley Arthur Davidson Walter Davidson William A. Davidson |
| Headquarters |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
|
Key people
|
Matthew Levatich, (President and CEO) |
| Products | Motorcycles |
| Revenue |
 US$5.25 billion (2013) |
|
US$1.1 billion (2014) |
|
|
US$795.53 million (2014) |
|
| Total assets |
|
| Total equity |
US$2.909 billion (2014) |
|
Number of employees
|
est. 5,900 (December 2014) |
| Website | www |
US$9.170773 billion (2012) Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D), or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer, founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903.
As one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression (along with Indian), the company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements (e.g., Aermacchi 1974-1978 and Buell 1987-2009), periods of poor economic health and product quality, as well as intense global competition — to become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following — with owner clubs and events worldwide as well as a company sponsored brand-focused museum.
Noted for a style of customization that gave rise to the chopper motorcycle style, Harley-Davidson traditionally marketed heavyweight, air-cooled cruiser motorcycles with engine displacements greater than 700 cm³ — and has broadened its offerings to include its more contemporary VRSC (2002) and middle-weight Street (2015) platforms.
Harley-Davidson manufactures its motorcycles at factories in York, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kansas City, Missouri; Manaus, Brazil; and Bawal, India — and markets its products worldwide.
Besides motorcycles, the company licenses and markets merchandise under the Harley-Davidson brand, among them being apparel, home decor and ornaments, accessories, toys, and scale figures of its motorcycles, and video games based on its motorcycle line and the community.
In 1901, 20-year-old William S. Harley drew up plans for a small engine with a displacement of 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc³) and four-inch (102 mm) flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame. Over the next two years, Harley and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson worked on their motor-bicycle using the northside Milwaukee machine shop at the home of their friend, Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Upon testing their power-cycle, Harley and the Davidson brothers found it unable to climb the hills around Milwaukee without pedal assistance. They quickly wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment.
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Wikipedia