Cannondale Corporation Company Background
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The Cannondale Corporation was founded in 1971 by president and CEO Joseph Montgomery. Cannondale's corporate headquarters and all support elements are located in Georgetown, Connecticut with manufacturing facilities in Bedford, Pennsylvania and subsidiaries in the Netherlands (1989) and Japan (1992). The company's mission is to be the best cycling company in the world, a company that cares about customers, suppliers and employees, by delivering innovative, continuously improved products through the best retailers. Cannondale's initial product was the industry's first bicycle trailer.
In 1983, the company introduced their first affordable, durable aluminum framed bicycle with flex-resistant aluminum tubing, which outperformed industry standards (steel frame). In 1996, Cannondale offered 53 different bicycle models featuring aluminum frames, and a wide accessory line (packs and bags, apparel, components and other accessories). The company is an industry leader in bicycle engineering and innovation in aluminum composite material design and fabrication, also a successful product differentiator, as a result of their expertise
Cannondale strategy is a vertical integration business strategy, while most of its competitors employ market and segmentation strategies to increase market share, specialization and single-channel distribution. Cannondale's positioning in a highly exclusive, specialty mountain bicycle market, offering high-end bicycles that appeal to serious riders, has gained them an excellent reputation both for style and quality. They have select distribution channels with specialty bicycle stores throughout America and other international markets that specialize in service excellence and other value added services such as custom fitting and repair. They sell through independent retailers rather than through discount or department stores...