Reply to: Anyone watch that Evan Davis Made in Britain show last night?

[TimberWolf]

Part of the reason we aren't all riding Bromptons is because they are too bloody expensive, and the other part is because they look silly.

[vetran]

Brompton

If he thinks the Japs won't take his business when they want to he is an idiot. Unless his technology is leading edge which it sounds like its not they will find ways to do it better & cheaper.

Didn't take them long to own the motorcycle market. They know a thing about quality that us Brits could learn.


The Germans could do the same. Vorsprung fold technik anyone?

[pacharan]

Can't watch him.

I find the thought of him having a piece of metal in his penis a bit offputting.

[OwlHoot]

That's exactly what they said in the 1960's about the UK motorcycle industry. In 1967 BSA was still the world's 2nd largest motorcycle maker, behind Honda. Less than 3 years later it was bankrupt.

WHS

I remember we used to laugh at tinny Japanese transistor radios in the mid '60s. But the joke soon went a bit flat.

[minestrone]

I may take the piss out of churchill over his pretend engineering qualification but I suppose I have to say well done on trying.

Nonsense TV shows like the great egg race made me to go into engineering, sadly we have the apprentice now where the articulation of screaming makes the decibel level a barganing chip.

Now we have a consumer stupid enough to believe air can be magnified and amplified as the dyson adverts claim.

[SueEllen]

ftfy.

To be more correct you can buy similar shoes for 2x, 3x and whatever times the price of Primark in other shops.

The point is you have the choice of how much you want to spend on a pair of shoes. Though with womans fashion spending more doesn't mean they will last longer.

BTW the only shoes I've got from Primark have been for fancy dress.

[Mason Boyne]

If you do a google you can find folding bikes on sale for half the price of a Brompton.

The point about having a Brompton is their quality.

If you know any bike fanatics they are quite happy to spend £2,000 on one of their bikes.

It's a bit like the fact you can buy shoes for £10 from Primark or you can go and buy shoes for 100x that from somewhere else.

ftfy.

[SueEllen]

I don't agree. There is obviously a market for those who want to pay a big price for a quality product, but there are a lot more who would happily buy one almost as good but at half the price. I'd suggest that a fair chunk of those who have to pay £700 for their folding bike would happily buy a cheaper one from overseas if it were £350. Lets see where this lot are in 10 years time.

If you do a google you can find folding bikes on sale for half the price of a Brompton.

The point about having a Brompton is their quality.

If you know any bike fanatics they are quite happy to spend £2,000 on one of their bikes.

It's a bit like the fact you can buy shoes for £10 from Primark or you can go and buy shoes for 10x that from somewhere else.

[BoredBloke]

You're missing the point, apparently they're 'de rigueur' for the city gent commuter.

If they were made in India or China the brand would lose its appeal.

I don't agree. There is obviously a market for those who want to pay a big price for a quality product, but there are a lot more who would happily buy one almost as good but at half the price. I'd suggest that a fair chunk of those who have to pay £700 for their folding bike would happily buy a cheaper one from overseas if it were £350. Lets see where this lot are in 10 years time.

[SueEllen]

You're missing the point, apparently they're 'de rigueur' for the city gent commuter.

If they were made in India or China the brand would lose its appeal.

WHS

It's all about branding and that includes the place it's made as some countries are known for having better quality control than others.

After all would you buy a Beamer if it was made in India?

[gingerjedi]

But their premium product was a folding bike, which while well engineered and constructed, is still a folding bike. A series of tubes and stuff which ultimately could be put together, possibly not as well, but a whole lot cheaper.

He seemed really smug the bike chap. As though it couldn't happen to his product! Well if we can make cars by robot I'm guessing a bike can't be too hard!

You're missing the point, apparently they're 'de rigueur' for the city gent commuter.

If they were made in India or China the brand would lose its appeal.

[minestrone]

Manufacturing in this country is brand and geographically driven, the former is places like Aston Martin, Linn Hi Fi which will sell on the name and the latter is making things with work intensive mass production where the transporation cost of the final product outweighs the total cost to the total cost to the consumer (jap car plants in the north being the prime example).

Over the last 15 years we have sold off our bulk of brand manufacturing...

[Fred Bloggs]

Yes it was their track - Felt he completely missed the point in the show. i.e. it's ok to let China have our volume manufacturing so long as we keep the small very high value sectors. Although he did touch on the fact that our manufacturing sector is far too small to sustain us.

That's exactly what they said in the 1960's about the UK motorcycle industry. In 1967 BSA was still the world's 2nd largest motorcycle maker, behind Honda. Less than 3 years later it was bankrupt.

[d000hg]

Fine, but the Chinese aren't stupid. What happens when they pinch the "small, high value sectors" too?

They won't be cheap any more.

[singhr]

Do the Beeb have some kind of deal with the military or is there some expenses scam where their presenters can claim 'travel costs' when making a documentary? Just about every tom dick and harry who makes a show these days get a spin in a jet, from the bloke with the rubbery lips who bangs on about hadron coliders to Evan 'face for radio' Davies. Having said that, I think the footage of Jeremy Clarkson puking in an F15 was worth every penny of my license fee.