哈雷再次轰鸣

    多年来，哈雷戴维森公司（Harley-Davidson）在经营上起起伏伏，堪比摩托车越野赛，华尔街的大佬们实在是跟不上趟。

    上世纪90年代中期摩托车旺销时，哈雷戴维森公司（简称哈雷公司）的股票与惠普（Hewlett-Packard）一样都是增长型股票。20世纪90年代末到21世纪初，订单增长超过产量，二手货价格也涨了上来，分析师们断言哈雷应该像蒂芙尼（Tiffany）一样算得上奢侈品厂商。2007年至2009年经济危机，泡沫破灭，销售大幅下滑（北美地区减少了50%），哈雷公司在投资者眼中成为和福特汽车（ Ford Motor）一样的周期性产业股票。

    2012年收入和盈利双双显著上涨，哈雷公司再次翻身。过去6个月里，哈雷公司股价上涨了13.6%，公司2月份分红提高了35.5%。相应地，市场分析师将哈雷公司股票调整至分红增长股票，与菲利普莫里斯公司（Philip Morris International）比肩。

    多年来一直没变的是，哈雷公司对自身品牌和百年历史的坚持和一贯追求。这种对传统和传承的一往情深迎合了品牌认可型车主们的心理，只要对现有型号进行无尽的变形和升级，就能把老客户牢牢稳住。同梅赛德斯-奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）和劳力士（Rolex）一样，哈雷公司算得上善于经营品牌历史的大师。

    哈雷摩托广告中随处可见“传奇”、“遗产”和“传统”这些字眼。哈雷公司的产品很少背离经典时期的那种反叛风格。马龙•白兰度在1953年的电影《飞车党》（The Wild One）中骑的不是哈雷，而是凯旋（Triumph）摩托，但是他塑造出的亡命骑士形象已经被哈雷完整地继承下来。想要像广告里所说的那样，勇敢无畏、永不妥协、绝不后悔么？骑哈雷吧。

    今年，哈雷公司自己成为了关注的核心。哈雷公司将迎来自己110岁生日，要在全球为拥趸们举办系列拉力赛，还要推出十多款纪念型号——将现有型号喷涂特殊油漆，同时安装徽章制成限量版——加价2,500美元。正如哈雷广告所说：“我们要向世界展示反叛精神”（We're putting the rebel spirit on display for the world to see）。除了传统的代顿海滩和南达科他州斯特吉斯镇之外，哈雷公司在全球各地组织拉力赛，远至新西兰、南非、吉隆坡和巴西。庆祝活动将以在密尔沃基劳动节的一个为期六天的活动告终。哈雷公司希望拥趸们在“自由、自我表达和史诗般探险”的热情感召下团结起来。

    哈雷这种桀骜不驯的态度来之不易。1903年，在密尔沃基的车间里，22岁威廉•S•哈雷和朋友亚瑟•戴维逊将一台小汽油引擎装在了一部普通自行车上。从那时算起，哈雷公司就一路坎坷。公司勉强撑过大萧条——产品销量从1929年的21,000辆锐减到1933年的3,703辆——上世纪70年代和80年代，它在日本厂商本田（Honda）、川崎（Kawasaki）和雅马哈（Yamaha）的打击下差点关门。旗下的布尔（Buell）和阿古斯塔（MV Agusta）等专有品牌最终于2009年倒闭歇业。

    Harley-Davidson has experienced more ups and downs than a motocross racer over the years, and Wall Street has had a hard time keeping up.

    Amid booming sales in the mid-1990s, Harley was pronounced a growth stock, on a par with, say, Hewlett-Packard. Then in the late '90s and early '00s, orders began outpacing production, and used prices shot up, leading analysts to the conclusion that Harley really ought to be considered a maker of luxury goods, like Tiffany. That bubble burst in the downturn of 2007-2009 when plummeting sales (down 50% in North America alone) downgraded Harley in the eyes of investors to the ranks of a mere cyclical stock like Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500).

    Now Harley (HOG, Fortune 500) is rolling again after reporting solid increases in revenues and earnings for 2012. Its shares have risen 13.6% in the past six months, and in February, Harley raised its dividend 35.5%. Accordingly, market analysts have reclassified Harley as a dividend growth stock along the lines of companies such as Philip Morris International (PM,Fortune 500).

    What hasn't changed over the years is Harley's consistent and durable devotion to its brand and its century-old history. It single-mindedly focuses on its heritage and traditions, caters to owners who already identify with the brand, and creates endless variations and updates of its existing model range to snare repeat customers. Along with companies like Mercedes-Benz and Rolex, Harley is a master at marketing the past.

    Its advertising is studded with words like "legendary," "heritage," and "traditional." Harley products seldom deviate from what is considered the "classic" era of motorcycle styling with its attitude of rebellion. Marlon Brando rode a Triumph, not a Harley, in 1953's The Wild One, but the outlaw biker image he created has been embraced by Harley ever since. Want to be bold, make no compromises, and never apologize, as the company promises in its ads? Ride a Harley.

    This year has brought Harley's obsessive attention with itself to the forefront. It is celebrating its 110th anniversary by holding a series of rallies for its fans around the world and launching a dozen anniversary bikes -- limited editions of existing models decked out with special paint and badging -- that will carry price premiums as high as $2,500. Says Harley in its promotional material: "We're putting the rebel spirit on display for the world to see." Literally. Harley is staging rallies in, among other places, exotic locations like New Zealand, South Africa, Kuala Lumpur, and Brazil, in addition to its traditionally raucous events in Daytona Beach and Sturgis, S.D. The celebration concludes with a six-day event over Labor Day weekend in Milwaukee. Harley urges its fans to unite over their shared passion for "freedom, self-expression, and epic adventure."

    Harley came by its scrappy attitude the hard way. It hasn't all been a smooth ride from its founding in a Milwaukee machine shop where 22-year-old William S. Harley and his friend Arthur Davidson attached a small gasoline engine to a regular bicycle frame in 1903. The company barely survived the Depression -- sales fell from 21,000 in 1929 to 3,703 in 1933 -- and nearly wilted again in the 1970s and '80s under assault from Japanese makers like Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha. Late-life diversions into the Buell and MV Agusta specialty brands flopped and were discontinued in 2009.