Missed a crucial point here guys....
Porsches are also made in Finland of all places... yep at least half of the Boxster production comes from the Valmet company...
Not sure if 911s are made there or not.
Talk about a high cost economy with socialist issues......
I think the policy of all manufacturers is to use locations where the price/quality/productivity equation works best.....
Otherwise why would BMW have built a new factory in the UK? for the new Rolls Royce.
Or Mclaren TAG built their HQ in the UK?
BMW built Z3s in the US and all the Merc ML SUVs are US built.....'cos it makes sense to build them in their biggest market.
As for Europe being 'laid back'...I must be in the wrong one....but there's alot of truth in what you say Wayne.
On a local level and in the private sector there is a lot of energy and spark, however the national institutions are more victim of labour laws etc which pulls us down.
From my years in the US it's not terribly different overall.
There are no European nations with as many Federal or National holidays as the US.....13 at last count. Which makes the average vacation allowance about the same.
Sure we have a national health services etc (which cost less as % of GDP than Medicaid BTW) and better unemployment benefits etc.
What we do have that is a step better than the US is education. Whilst the top end is broadly similar with top Universities and Schools, the average is better and Universites do not charge the scale of fees that the US ones do.
I think if you examined closely where items in our P-cars are made there would only be a small % that are built in Germany, some more from Europe, some from the USA and the rest form around the globe.
Each will meet the Porsche standards of the day...dare I suggest they may not be as high as before?, and the care and attention with which they are assembled will give the car its quality.
So, provided the item works well, is not out of standard spec, is not made in a exploitative (child labour etc) manner is there a real issue with where it comes from....beside the fact we would prefer our friends and family to benefit from the financial side of the whole thing?
A view from the otherside......
