For die-hard leather-clad fans of Harley-Davidson "hog" motorcycles, it will be a vindication. But for everyone else, it's an astonishing reversal of the fortunes of two American automotive icons: tiny Harley is worth more than General Motors, the world's largest carmaker.
Harley passed GM in market value last week, after another profit warning by the car giant worried shareholders and raised the spectre of its bonds being downgraded to junk.
The rise in Harley and the drop in GM's fortunes do not reflect manufacturing or sales. Harley sold 317,289 bikes last year, for total revenue of €3.8 billion ($5 billion) and net profit of €681 million ($889 million). GM, despite serious problems, built 8.99 million vehicles, 28 times as many as Harley, had turnover of €146 billion ($193 billion), 38 times as much, and, thanks mainly to its finance arm, earned €5.2 billion ($6.9 billion).
But Harley has produced 19 consecutive years of record revenue and profits, while GM has been shrinking for a generation, ending February with a record low north American market share of 24.5 per cent. Last week the carmaker announced its biggest quarterly loss since 1992.
Part of the difference is mundane GM has more than €227 billion ($300 billion) in outstanding debt and has promised €46.6 billion ($61.5 billion) on healthcare to current and future pensioners. In effect, money is going from shareholders to bondholders and retirees.
But there are parallels between the development of the two groups which go much deeper than the fact that GM was founded just a year after William Harley, Arthur Davidson and his two brothers incorporated their bike builder in 1907.
Both companies have faced stiff Japanese competition that threatened their domination of the US market, losing out to the Japanese because of poor quality.
Both companies came close to bankruptcy - Harley in 1985, GM in 1992. Both adopted lean Japanese manufacturing techniques, particularly kaizen, or continuous improvement.
The motorcycle maker had the advantage of starting its recovery earlier, partly because the Japanese assault hit the US bike market before its car market. But while history has favoured Harley, it has slowed GM. The key to Harley's success has been its focus on its brand - a management buy-out in 1981 was followed by a 1986 stock market listing.
Harley has used its remarkable heritage - America's only bike maker for 46 years, ridden by Elvis Presley and beloved by the 1950s and 1960s biker generations - to create strong loyalty among customers. Its Harley Owners Group (HOG, after the nickname for its bikes) has almost a million members, and it makes a large, undisclosed income from branded accessories and clothing. Harley, after its brush with bankruptcy, focused on just two things: big bikes and its brands.
GM has made the same efforts, shrinking its workforce and improving manufacturing and engineering. But the legacy of its past has been truly enormous costs for the future: each worker must produce enough profit to support 2.5 pensioners, before shareholders get anything.
GM is doing what it can to focus on its brands. But even if America's drivers can be persuaded to put GM cars in their garages once again, GM is never likely to inspire the cult status of Harley's hogs.
- Financial Times