Quote:
Originally Posted by DCG
If You’re like me I'm sure you're NOT thrilled to hear the news about our 3 Series being made in Mexico - not in Germany, South Carolina U.S.A, but in Mexico where everything goes to die. Once anything is farmed out to China or Mexico it, without fail, usually goes to SH*T. I've seen this happen with so many iconic brands that once manufactured great products only to see their products turn into total CRAP.
It is all about saving costs, which will not be passed on to us customers and BMW enthusiasts.
I feel manufacturing the cars in Mexico is total sacrilege... The whole point of wanting to buy, own and drive a BMW is because of it’s German heritage, German design and of meticulous German manufacturing. It’s part of the BMW mystique and what we, as customers, are paying a premium for. German Engineering and German Build Quality mean something! It makes a statement and that is what you are paying for. After all it is THE car that has set the high standards that every other car manufacture tries to follow regarding luxury, sportiness, and build quality – they don’t call a BMW “The Ultimate Driving Machine” for nothing.
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My recent reply to your similar post disagreed with you, I even called you an ignorant #@*#. I apologise for this because I do actually get where you’re coming from. We do buy German brands because of their reputation for build quality but sadly many big brands are now manufacturing in countries where labour is cheaper. And you’re absolutely right, we won’t see the cost saving passed on to us! This isn’t always the way though... I’m a musician and American guitar company, Fender, do pass the savings on to the customer for Mexican built products! A Mexican built instrument is generally around half the price of a Corona (Cali) built one and while quality wasn’t great to start with, it is now right up there with the top end stuff! To be fair to BMW though, cars are very different and are built by robots, which are made by BMW Germany, so the Mexican workers will be trained (hopefully properly) to operate these robots! Obviously some of the cars interiors are assembled by hand, but again we would hope the plant workers are properly trained to do an exemplary job! I’ve actually read opinions from members on this forum saying they’ve owned a South African built car which they felt was better built than their previous German built car! I know the SA plant has apparently won manufacturing awards for their quality! Sometimes when manufacturing gets shipped out to poorer countries the workers try really hard to prove their worth and with Mexican BMWs it will all come down to how good BMW’s quality control is. I actually think it will be fine as they have a reputation to maintain amongst all the competition but it’s whether American buyers will trust BMW to get this right I guess!!