[thrid]

Originally Posted by stephan_w

I don't understand your comparison with Porsche. Porsche build their cars for about twice the price of comparable mass market prices, and the cars don't go faster because of this. It's their reputation, their very expensive GT-models and their marketing that make the difference. Once Porsche will start to build a car at the price of a Nissan, they will loose.

Porsche has a tiered product line. You can get one of their low end models at a reasonable cost or spend yourself silly with the exotics. At either end of the spectrum you get very good value for your money.

Porsche did this without sacrificing quality, selling themselves out or moving production out of the country. They do not have the resources of the big auto makes, but remain on the cutting edge of technology, because the company is run very smartly.

Apple is probably a better example. Look at their product like. Or that of Canon or Nikon, if you limit it to SLR bodies.

And onther thing: Leica is not responsible for the decline of the american currency. If European craftsmanship is no longer in the reach of american customers today, this is mainly because of some homemade financial problems in America.

Of course Leica is not responsible for the decline of the dollar. The dollar is tanking for various poor economic choices in the US and abroad, but at the same time it's not all roses in Germany either.

There recently was an article in Der Spiegel (yes, this drooling American speaks fluent German) about the increasing loss of manufacturing jobs in Germany, due to competition from Asia and the high costs of doing business in the country. Apparently Germany loses several thousand jobs per month, due to this.

All of Europe and the US is feeling the squeeze from the east. Even the Japanese have moved a lot of manufacturing outside of the country. It is very difficult to compete with China, who is turning out high quality goods, but paying a fraction of the wages found elsewhere in the world.