Just a short note about the content of this blog. I don’t support any one manufacturer over another. My purchases or recommendations aren’t based on political opinions or previous purchasing patterns. Good products and companies come and go. Some are from Europe, Canada, the US, or Japan, but increasingly, products that we buy, simply because we think we know the manufacturer of the product isn’t made in any of these places. The parent company’s headquarters may well be, but the reality is that the research, manufacturing, and testing facilities for many of these companies, increasingly come from countries where labor costs are cheaper and/or taxes, lower.
When it comes to photography equipment for example, this transition was made years ago. The vast majority of products are now offshore and if once made in Japan, have either moved or are in that process. I know lenses, as I’ve been an avid photographer for 53 years, and had a photographic lab, studio and business during that time. What is increasingly evident is that some lenses manufactured in China, Malaysia, Vietnam or Indonesia are indistinguishable from those priced much higher coming out of Japan or Germany. The engineering, raw products and, apparently, workmanship are equal to those found in the countries of origin for that product. The other reality is that robotics are making differentiation a moot point.
Today, in motorcycling, we are seeing the same transition, however, it is even more diverse as manufacturers who are making the largest numbers of motorcycles are looking to shave costs. Increasingly, China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam are becoming production hubs for manufacturers. I don’t see this as problematic. We have already gone through this same transition with electronics and a host of other products. I don’t see people complaining about the prices or the quality they’re paying for products from Apple, Samsung, etc., etc.
I say this simply because I’ve noted that people are getting disjointed over my recommending products that come from non-traditional production centers. It is, however, increasingly obvious that the trend towards global production centers that illustrate economies of scale will become progressively used by most manufacturers.
In photography today, as an example, some of the best lenses made in the world are no longer coming from Japan. Sony, or whomever its ownership may well still be producing them, but they are being built in Korea or China.
As for motorcycles, the change that began ten years ago has stengthened and grown appreciably.
KTM, BMW, Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Triumph now all produce some of their line, which is growing, offshore. You can certainly pay more to each of these countries by supporting their production centres in Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan or England, but the reality is that in order to compete with the competence of new manufacturing, chosen by these same manufacturers, they too have decided to move some, and is some cases, soon, all of their production away from their traditional production centres.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/ktm-owner-moves-production-to-china/ar-AA1lRfCR
The question should be, what does this mean for purchasers?
One last thought. Last year the United States imported 128 Billion dollars of products produced in Vietnam. Allegiances change, today’s reality is completely different than that of 1968. Such is the world we live in. The saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”, makes for strange bedfellows today, especially when one analyzes the former enemies of the United States, Canada or Britain.
Ciao…
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