Only two for me. The Germans and the Swiss. Why are they so good at everything ?!

Ok, maybe the Czechs who made my damn fine skoda.lol

No for me to most european, asian and american stuff. Yes the Japanese for electrical goods and cars I suppose.

Any prejudices out there ?(perhaps for no good reason.lol)

 

I`ve had plenty of German stuff fail, with poor support; pro Karcher, Stihl, nightmare new VW transporter, the engineering bodge which is the Skoda Superb estate`s rear axle, eating tyres for fun, VAG emissions. Clever design and looks, over engineered underneath.
But Sony have been the worst, won`t even start with that list.
It`s not countries, it`s companies

 

You need different specialised tools for just changing the pads front and rear on the Superb ffs.

 

France, always consistent

 

It really is a matter of the product and the company selling it, the country doesn't really come into it unless there is only one country that makes something!

Generally, the bigger and more diverse the company the poorer the product!

 

"German" and "Quality" went their separate ways 30 years ago.

 

That may be true for some bigger German companies, VAG particularly spring to mind there, but many smaller German companies still have very high quality standards!

 

Pretty much this, although by and large you can't go far wrong buying Japanese.

 

The real stupidity in prejudices such as this is that these days, the country where the company originates is rarely the same country where the product (or the products sub-components) are manufactured!

You may see Dyson as a British company, but all their manufacturing is in China! So is it a British or Chinese product? If a product is good or bad, which country to you credit/blame?


Is a product manufactured in China for a German company any better than a product manufactured for an Italian company? or a British company?

 

in terms of international product standards (standards that are observed, policed and continually updated and monitored) the "CE" marketing had become almost a world standard


look at anything from a light bulb, to a wine glass, fridge to a car component - it will be "CE" marked

http://www.ce-marking.org/what-is-ce-marking.html

not perfect, but pretty good

 

Belgium - Trappist beer.... perfection.

 

Made in China

Nearly always cheap and nasty

 

Although find me something Japanese that is made in Japan, today. Or uses Japanese sourced internal components; I've lost count of the electronic items I've either binned or repaired due to "Chinese capacitor syndrome", regardless of where they were made (EU, US, Japan etc.);In short outsourced components whose manufacturer (normally Chinese) employs quality fade in subsequent batches.

Or, as seen here, stolen designs: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.t...ems-capacitors

This affected pretty much every global electronic appliance/computing brand.

Hence, 1980's Japanese is where the true quality is at, and where most brands built up their peak level of trust with consumers. One could say the same for Germans too.

PS: We have a Dyson DC04 that is made in Britain. Not that it matters, but it still soldiers on being bashed and dropped every odd week. The DC14 thats made in China isn't so tolerant to abuse (plastics are more brittle).

 

 

It's the same old story over and over. Unless the importer employs its own quality control staff that continually monitors quality and material at each point in material/component supply and at each production stage as well as before export on a ongoing basis, then the Chinese manufacturer or one of its material/component suppliers will employ quality fade. Its indoctrined into their business mantra to maintain and increase profit.

So many end Western companies have been persistently complacent and only wait until after export to find out thing have gone **** up. And of course, they will be the ones held responsible both legally and financially by Western authorities and customers alike.

A Chinese manufacturer will happily slap on certification approvals, safety markings on goods because once paid for and exported they aren't liable. Just look at all the computer power supplies with fake PFC; Yes, they have all the safety and compliance markings slapped on the sticker, but infact its meaningless.

 

Dyson = Malaysia not China. But they still have a base in Malmesbury (near David Hendry).

Italo Trains made in Italy, engineering excellence. Who would have thought!

FI technology, along the M40 and the surrounding areas.

Many American open cockpit racers, made in the UK.

The Germans struggle to get a good customer relations score, is that because of the expectation?

Chinese counterfeit goods, now that is another story. And not a prejudice.