“Harley-Davidson: Finally,” as presented in Hartley's Marketing Mistakes and Successes, presents the circumstances surrounding HD's near-collapse and its near-mythical success ever since. This case is a prime example of marketing myopia; HD saw itself as a "full-size motorcycle" manufacturer, not in the transportation industry, or even the entertainment industry. They believed that no one bought motorcycles for transportation, but rather for leisure. Like the auto industry of the time, Harley-Davidson believed that its customers would buy its products over those of its main competitors, mainly because they were all foreign. . Interestingly enough, it was true, annual sales of HD units never changed; they simply haven't grown with the market or even the population. In the 1950s, motorcycle sales were around 50,000 units per year, 70% of which went to HD. By 1971, nearly 4 million motorcycles were registered in the United States and the HD's market share had fallen to 5%. Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 by four men in a wooden shed experimenting with the internal combustion engine. By the early 1960s, HD had virtually eliminated all of its domestic competitors. His motorcycles were used by almost every American police department. That would soon change. Harley-Davidson's president at the time, William E. Davidson, was the founder's son. He believed that lightweight motorcycles posed no threat to Harley's business. By the mid-1960s, HD realized its mistake and attempted to compete in this segment by bringing motorcycles from Italy. These were no better quality than the motorcycles Harley produced in its factories, and nowhere near the quality of the Hondas, the market leader at the time. Harley-Davidson went public in 1965, eventually becoming a division of AMF, a manufacturer of recreational and bowling equipment. After losing money for more than a decade, Harley-Davidson was sold to a group led by Vaughan Beals, the division's vice president of sales. Beals and Willie G. Davison, grandson of the founder, who was also vice president of designs, decided to remake the company. They attend rallies, talk to Harley owners, and discuss their likes, dislikes, and complaints. This laid the foundation for Harley-Davidson's future. The biggest challenge Harley-Davidson faced was poor quality. Beals and other officials visited Japanese factories, as well as the Honda plant in Marysville, Ohio..