Just like every year, Interbrand – one of the most famous companies in brand consultancy – has just published the list of the 100 most valuable brands of the world for the year 2012, and once again Harley–Davidson is the only motorcycle manufacturer to make it in the list (considering that BMW, which occupies the 12th position, and Honda, 21th, owe their ranking mainly to their automotive branches, as pointed out by the Interbrand guys themselves).
In 2012 H-D got itself the 96th place, earning a good 10% in value.
This result is also a positive turnaround for the Milwaukee-based company – which was rated at the 76th place in 2009 and then drpped to the 98th spot in 2010 and the 100th spot in 2011 – and also reflects its sales performance, which increased globally by 6.
2% compared to the figures of the previous year with a total of 249,849 vehicles sold and 623 million dollars of net profit.
In the United States H-D experiences a very important 6.
6% growth, with large increases recorded also in South America (+39%) and Asia (+14%), counterbalancing the -3% recorded in Europe.
In the special list drawn up by Interbrand – dominated once again by Coca-Cola – Harley–Davidson has left behind high-sounding brands such as Yahoo, Ferrari and Gap.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the American brand – which this year celebrates 110 years of history – will behave in this chart in the coming years in light of the significant restructuring of its production that took in place in 2012 and of the retirement of its charismatic leader Willie G.
Davidson.