-Industry Overview
Although, Harley-Davidson is one of the top manufacturers in the "recreational vehicle" category, it falls slightly short compared to his main rival Polaris Industries, Inc. (PII). It is believed that this must be due to Polaris providing more "recreational vehicles" that are able to be used all year round, unlike, Harley-Davidson only manufactures strict heavy-duty motorcycles. It almost seems unfair to compare or put Harley-Davidson in the same category as Polaris. 1)Polaris only manufactures two styles of motorcycle. 2)Polaris as mentioned before sells more recreational and winter like vehicles(Snowmobile/golf carts/Hunting carts) for a lower price. 3)Polaris employes 3,000 Full-Time staff to produce/manufacture their vehicles 4)More does not mean better, can 3,000 employees provide the same high-quality as Harley-Davidsons 6,900? 5)Harley-Davidson only manufactures heavy-duty bikes.
These are all possible factors of why Polaris should not be compared to Harley-Davidson or even stand in the same category.
One thing for sure is that Harley-Davidson stands out well among its top competitors. As shown on the chart below Harley-davidson leads the competition in the Market Cap category. Not only do they lead, but they stand out rather well with a 8.63 Billion cap. Thats twice as much as Polaris Industries, Inc. cap.

Top Recreational Vehicles Companies by Market Cap
Company
Symbol
Price
Change
Market Cap
P/E
Harley-Davidson, Inc.
HOG
37.14
Up
Up
1.01%
8.63B
19.62
Polaris Industries, Inc.
PII
60.87
Up
Up
1.28%
4.20B
19.81
Thor Industries Inc.
THO
23.84
Down
Down
1.49%
1.31B
12.42
Piaggio
PIA.MI
2.12
Down
Down
2.93%
788.20M
18.60
Drew Industries Inc.
DW
21.64
Down
Down
0.28%
477.25M
16.63
Arctic Cat Inc.
ACAT
19.35
Down
Down
2.67%
353.97M
19.25
(HOG 2011)

Among the industry leaders of "Recreational Vehicles" Harley-Davidson leads in a few categories. Harley Davidson is rank first out of thirteen companies in the Market Capitalization and EPS Growth categories. As mentioned before Harley-Davidson is a leader. This is shown in this graph in the HOG rank, as you can see Harley-Davidson rank top 5 in every category, impressed? better believe it.

HOG vs. Industry Leaders
Statistic
Industry Leader
HOG
HOG Rank
Market Capitalization
HOG
8.63B
-
1 / 13
P/E Ratio (ttm)
MPX
54.60
19.62
3 / 13
PEG Ratio (ttm, 5 yr expected)
MPX
4.65
0.84
4 / 13
Revenue Growth (Qtrly YoY)
PII
26.00%
10.90%
5 / 13
EPS Growth (Qtrly YoY)
HOG
105.70%
-
1 / 13
Long-Term Growth Rate (5 yr)
PIA.MI
31.27%
17.40%
5 / 13
Return on Equity (ttm)
PII
55.02%
18.84%
2 / 13
Long-Term Debt/Equity (mrq)


214.465
N/A
Dividend Yield (annual)
THO
2.60%
1.40%
3 / 13
(HOG 2011)

Other competitors include:
-Triumph Motorcycles Limited
-Ultra Motorcycle Company Inc.
-Viper Motorcycle Company
(HOG 2011)