http://www.bmw-egypt.com/Fascination_Overview/BMW_Factory/factory.html Was doing some research on BMW througout the world, and it amazes me that BMW, a German car maker, sells BMW's in the middle east that are manufactured in their Cairo based Manufacturing plant. I never thought this could be possible, but it is. I wonder if localised production for cars will be a thing of the future for some prestiege brands, similar to how Sony products are made in china now instead of japan. Mercedes has a factory in Egypt that makes all the S models, and you would not be able to tell the difference between the german and egyptian make supposedly. I know this is not ferrari related but i dont really post anywhere else on the internet, what are your thoughts on this? Would you buy a BMW made in America (or Egypt) even though it was made to the same exacting standards? Hell, would you buy a Ferrari that was manufactured by Ferrari of Detroit, rather than Ferrari of Maranello? Interesting..
Not all german cars are built in germany. Many of the VW's and at least the Benz ML are made over here, with the VW's being made in mexico, and the ML in alabama I think. And the answer to your question...No. I would rather have a bimmer or benz that was built in Germany.
yep bmw makes the X line of cars and Z cars in the states too. My only guess as to why they do it is cause it costs a crap load to ship cars, and by having the plant situated in its market they can cut out a majority of the shipping costs. Also a big toyota plant just opened somewhere in texas too..
All I can do is shake my head after reading your comment. So, intrinsic quality and value is not important? How about this, will you take a crappy German made car over a much better Japanese/American/Egyptian made car?....actually never mind....
If I was enthused about a certain culture, such as italian culture, or japanese culture, ABSOLOUTELY I would buy a car based on where it was made. The very same can be said for Alpha romeo owners or Fiat owners that enjoy the crappy Italian (no offence but its true) workmanship (brilliant design), because they are buying the culture that goes in to it, which is whats important. The purpose of this conundrum was not to wonder weather different nations have different standards n general, but weather the intangable brand value of country of origin plays part in brand loyalty and perceived value. We both know that german engineer's are well renowned for their obsession with precision and perfection. They are taught from a very young age to not accept indescrepancies in any matter, and obviously this is deep seated within their work ethic. Just as the Italians are raised to believe in "beauty of the figure", the same can be said for germans who are raised to believe in efficicency and precision. The mercedes factory in germany regularly throws away parts which are 0.0001 mm off. Why do you think german cars cost so much? The japanese work in a very similar work ethic. Engineering and production is exactly the same if not better than german standards because of this strong discipline that is taught from a young age. I had a japanese design teacher when I was in design school, He'd fail us if we mounted are presentions on the boards 1mm off centre, AND HE MEASURED IT! Our german lecturers would fail us if they were 2mm off. My american lecturer was more concerned with our ideas and concepts rather than our execution. Anyway my comment about the same exacting standards wasnt meant to put german engineering up on a pedestul, but to say "if both cars are made exactly the same", does the perceived value of country of origin play a part.
I seriously did not know that all these cars were being built locally. I mustve been living under a rock or something.
Interesting...I wonder how these "traits" are taught, and were they steamed from. Also, what are the traits of Americans in your view (be honest), and other countries that may come to mind.
The japanese instill discipline in their children from a very young age. If you miss a day of school you are beaten. An intern within a japanese company could be asked to not leave the workplace for days on end to get a certain job done. If youre thinking on a more hierarchal sense, this sense of discipline could have been rooted from the Japanese samurai ancestors which strived for perfection and beauty in the environment and workmanship. I am no historian, but a nations work ethic i think usually depends on the years of government rule. What do I think of the American work ethic? I think Americans are brought up to follow dreams and are quite good at realising them. Americans are inventors and innovators. And this will be of imprtance even more so in the coming decades. As we all know the industrial revoloution started in Great Britain. Britains main industry was manufacturing. However in recent times this has shifted to Asia. This meant that Britain and America have to place more emphasis on design rather than manufacture. You only have to look at the dwindeling numbers of manufacturing plants in the US to realise that soon enough manufacturing will be phased out completely in developed countries and left to growing countries such as china and india. So this more than ever places importance on design and innovation rather than industriousness (if there is such a word). Anyway what do i think of "Made in America" ? To be honest, your cars fall apart, your tyres explode and the cars are pieces of crap build wise. And this is COMPLETELY not because of the work ethic, but because of the way corporate america has been set up. It has been set up with such Looong corporate hierarchies that its impossible to make right decisions. At Sony, the factory worker can speak to the CEO and vice versa. At Chrysler, the designer will specify one type of door handle, and by the time it gets to factory floor, its a completely different door handle for instance. Japan and germany lack this corporate structure which is why i think they produce quality build in the automotive industry. Its late here so sorry if i rambled... need a drink.
BMWs are made in Germany, South Africa, South Carolina, China, etc... Mercedes are made in Germany, Alabama, China, etc... Porsche is made in Germany and Finland. If you look at the various costs of production, duties and transportation costs, it makes sense to localize production. Nothing new and it has been going on for a long time. The quality standards are the same, the OEMs invest tremendous sums of money to ensure that they are the same.
