There was a time when you paid more for a German automobile because “Made in Germany” actually meant something. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen built an international reputation around engineering, quality, and precision. People willingly paid the premium because Germany was supposed to build the machine better than everyone else. That reputation became one of the foundations of Germany’s entire export economy.

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The European Central Bank now openly admits that China’s industrial rise is pushing European companies out of global markets, particularly in machinery and transportation equipment. Germany is the most exposed of the major European economies because its export profile most closely resembles China’s. The Chinese are no longer merely producing inexpensive toys, textiles, and household goods. They are competing directly in the industries Germany once believed belonged to it.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/germany/made-in-germany-does-not-...