Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bread
What is it you do? Do you think your EU counterparts are somehow better at it than you? I've worked in the US and Germany and while I think the average professional German works harder in fewer hours, it's not easy to blanket it like that, nor tie higher wages (ignoring cost of living, taxes, etc) to higher quality work.
I've seen this argument presented for years on the VW boards, and continuously, the Mexican made Golfs score better on both initial and long term quality than the German made ones. BMW hasn't been as clean about building the same model in various locations, but I do know that the South African assembled 3ers have scored just as well as the German made ones.
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I have owned 3 Mexican made VW's and guess what they are good deals and were well made. Much better made than my South Carolian made Z3. But they were lower priced than the German Models. The BMW X5 is 20 thousand dollars more than the Swedish Made Volvo XC 90 that I owned. If you are getting lower labor rates I expect to pay less for the Vehicle.
Anyway I would rather my money go to workers making a decent living, gets a lot of vacation time, and has great benefits. I talked to some workers at the BMW plant when I visited. I guess they are happy making what they make because South Carolina is a pretty depressed area. One of the poorest states in the country and I think they have the lowest high school graduation rates.
I really wish my BMW was made in Munich. I didn't realize Lepzig wasn't in Bavaria. I guess another way of lowering costs.