Ducati Group's Strategic Plan

Consumers are not limited to a single market, many of them will be purchasing multiple bikes, but all of them have specific preferences. Successful company will meet customer’s needs and maximize sales by growing the potential market size as well as taking sales from competitors.

Marketing and Sales represents Ducati’s most significant growth opportunities because their brand management strategy advances the Ducati name into the consciousness of their markets. In addition to motorcycles, Ducati extends the brand by selling accessories and apparel. For sure, Ducati owners will buy these products but perhaps more importantly, the aspirational aspect of the brand drives people to buy Ducati-branded items even if they don’t own the bike. This behavior is seen with the Harley-Davidson brand: many people wear H-D clothing and

I think by sticking to one specialty, Ducati has more power over its customers than all other competing companies. This does not however eliminate rivalries between companies altogether. Even though Ducati may have the advantage of differentiation, this particular industry is continuing to grow and with that comes more competition for customers.

Firstly, picking up Ducati as its target company is quite opportunistic. From the traditional investment style’s point of view, TPG is interested in those companies that had grown rapidly but still had the corporate structures of very small companies which caused great stress to the management of the business, and the assets of their target companies always being considered to be divided in order to improve the business riping for LBO. Besides, TPG is expecting to add complexity to the doing the deals and realize fiscal efficiency. Ducati is thus to be an ideal target from these

| * Only motorcycle company that dominated the World Superbike Championship in years preceding 2003 * Broad range of bikes (dual sport, sport touring, super sport) with leading edge technology * Its development in the U.S. in early 2000’s has supported Ducati steady growth

1. What is the nature of the opportunity? Could the Ducati brand be expanded beyond motorcycles? Why or why not?

Bicycle consumers evaluate bicycles for their technology to include low weight, durable, stylish, and performance. Consumers are also concerned about price and service. Also the demographic of peer ownership will influence consumer purchasing criteria. Clearly the college in Colorado had a few select brands. Some manufacturers are fortunate to capture these traits within their brand. Trek has successfully secured 24% of the market and is a respected brand.

After an investigation by the US International Trade Commission, in 1983 President Reagan imposed a 45% tariff on imported bikes and bikes over 700 cc engine capacity. The new management deliberately exploited the past appeal of their big machines, building motorcycles that purposely adopted the look and feel of their earlier models. Quality increased, technical improvements were made, and buyers returned. Harley-Davidson once again became the sales leader in the heavyweight (over 750 cc) market.

Lance Armstrong’s relationship with Shimano also worked in Shimano’s favor. It was well known that a strong majority of the components on Armstrong’s racing bike were made by Shimano. This created a brand image for Shimano that was nearly impossible for any other brand to imitate, largely due to the fact that there are very few other high profile cyclists in the world.

1. What is the nature of the opportunity? Could the Ducati brand be expanded beyond motorcycles? Why or why not?

Motorcycle Cruisers is known for creating a stream of customers who are an elite bunch of people and have their own level of desire for motorcycle. The main objective of Motorcycle Cruisers has been to maintain the brand image in the eye of the consumer so that the customers don’t ever feel the image to be diluted. It is the experience that the customer goes through makes the bond special. Company has integrated its supply chain so well that consumers gets to interact directly with the suppliers and get the motorcycle as per his requirements. It creates a long term bond towards the company from the customer side. This is the single most important strategy adopted by Motorcycle Cruisers to create successful relationship marketing with the customer. It makes the customer loyal towards the brand. Marketing personnel’s of the company are very well trained so that they can understand the actual needs and want of the customer, and assure the desired output from the supply side of the company. It is said that the company does not only sell motorcycle but they sell a complete ownership experience. This is possible only because of the employees of the company

Ducati entered into Sport-Touring segment, which enabled a complete presence in all categories of Sports segment. Strategic innovation: creating new customer segment [Grant p 213]

Ducati Motor Holding S.P.A. is an Italian company that designs and manufactures motorcycles. Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, Ducati is owned by Audi through its Italian subsidiary Lamborghini. In 1926 Antonio Cavaliers Ducati and his three sons, Adriano, Marcello, and Bruno cavaliers Ducati; founded Society Scientific Radio Brevet Ducati in Bologna to produce vacuum tubes, condensers and other radio components. In 1935 they had become successful enough to enable construction of a new factory in the Borg Pan gale area of the city. Production was maintained during World War II, despite the Ducati factory being a repeated target of Allied bombing. Farinelli began developing a small pushrod engine for mounting on bicycles. Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called the "Cucciolo" (Italian for "puppy," in reference to the distinctive exhaust sound) to the public. The first Cucciolos were available alone, to be mounted on standard bicycles, by the buyer; however, businessmen soon bought the little engines in quantity, and offered complete motorized-bicycle units for sale. In 1950, after more than 200,000 Cucciolos had been sold, in collaboration with SIATA, the Ducati firm finally offered its own Cucciolo-based motorcycle. This first Ducati motorcycle was a 48 cc bike weighing 98 lb. (44 kg) with a top speed of 40 mph (64 km/h) had a 15 mm carburetor

Honda Motor Company is considered one of the best car companies in the world .It is also one of the largest ones too. Honda marketing team play a big role in determining the growth of its business.

Honda Motor Company is considered one of the best car companies in the world .It is also one of the largest ones too. Honda marketing team play a big role in determining the growth of its business.