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Originally Posted by georg
When a Leica-product mainly comes from Portugal it say's "Made in Portugal", when Canada, "Made in Canada", when China "Made in China" and when most of the work was done in Germany it is... right: "Made in Germany"... Leica never tried to trick customers by the country of origin.
Some parts of the M are still made in Portugal, the original plan to catch up with the japanese companys in price with production plants in lower labor cost countries (Portugal and Canada) failed a long time ago (as it usually does) - then they decided to make only highest quality products for highest prices, "Made in China"-compact cameras disappeared, lens production went back to Germany and Portugal mostly makes parts and accessoires.
Top plates were made of zinc die-cast in Portugal, now they are made at much higher prices from massive brass by a german company (in Germany). You see, it's a little bit different than Adidas or Apple ;-)
Leica once mentioned the creation of value be Germany for the R8 with more than 70% - that's sounds reasonable for all "real" Leicas.
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BTW, the Japanese companies also have factories outside the home country. Nikon comes to mind. They have a factory in Thailand that builds complete cameras. Whereas a lens might be made in Japan, the lens shade might be made in China - this is the case with their new 105VR lens.
Tom