Märklin do not tell you on the box where things are made. You and me, we have to consult the forum to find out where things are made. Piko ain't better, but I just assume all Piko H0 products come from China.

Several members have posted here that they have fewer issues with the Chinese stuff from Märklin than they have with the European products.
OTOH there were some teething problems with the new synchronized smoke units in Chinese locos.

I think it would be nice to have a thread where we collect the "Made in..." information without quality discussions.

Exactly David. When a company contracts with domestic or non domestic manufacturers they get the quality they are willing to pay for. Some are better than others. If I were doing it, I would have my engineering department check and compare goods made by the various suppliers for accuracy, precision and quality of parts used for assembly and the electrical and electronics.
For example a British company Cambridge audio designs their components in the UK, and they are made to specifications in China, and labels say that.

I (more than) suspect the vast majority of North Americans are buying their Marklin from Europe.

Your point about the prototype is valid, it isn't a home run like a crocodile (or even an Ae 4/7), rather a niche model for those who really love Swiss trains.

Regarding the Marklin model: I personally find the orange plastic roof details unbearable, and the light gray in need of weathering before I can even look at it. This kept me from buying. The new Roco examples look much nicer, and several friends bought those instead of Marklin. I bought neither and kept my old Fleischmann versions, which frankly I think are just as nice!

I can check with Eurorailhobbies if they have the Ae 3/6I and what it says on the box. I did not buy this model as I had already ordered the Roco model.
I think there are a lot of North American modellers who are buying from shops here, but I suspect that a lot of people may be spending less than in prior years.

The problem for me with buying from Europe is that it has become hard to put together enough items at any one time to put together an order that justifies the 50-75 EUR shipping cost.
Model releases are so spread out that I might be lucky if I have 3-4 items shipped at a time.

Side Note: That weathered Ae 3/6 looks a lot better than the original model release.

Regards

Mike C

What weathered one?

Thanks! Indeed it does look much better weathered...

AFAIK Marklin no longer marks the chassis with a made in label.

Some models are still made in Germany, like Insider models. Some are made in Hungary, and one offs and special models are usually made in China. The quality is all pretty much the same, so I don't worry too much about where it was made. It is just interesting that Marklin no longer wants to tell buyers about where the models were assembled.

I have ordered many items from Canada and I have never paid any import fees, so unless something has changed model RR items are exempt.

AFAIK there is no US import duty on model trains. I receive regular shipments from Germany.

What a strange comment... Just don't read the thread then. What you find boring might be very interesting to others.

/Mjrallare

Prices usually follow supply and demand in relation to availablity, and interest regardless of product sources. If rare ruby's were inexpensive, or plentiful, there would be no point in investing in them. If it were quick or easy to become a surgeon, there would be no point in being one, because there would be way more competition, and that usually means a lower cost for a surgery. Basic economics from high school. Local currency value can also affect prices of imports.

Some folks like to have a list of Märklin items made in China.
Such a list is more useful if it is not diluted by the perpetual "I don't have problems with China items" posts perpetually made by the "I don't care where it comes from" fraction.
And several folks wrote that they have fewer problems with items from Märklin’s Chinese sub-contractors than with those made by Märklin in Germany or Hungary.
So while some people try to avoid "Made in China", others may even see it as a good sign.
I think this thread is a good place to compile information about country of origin without discussions.
China discussion has been boring right from the start. But since we see new China items every year and since Märklin try to obscure the Chinese roots of their products, this thread still serves a purpose for those who care about CoO.

Hi David,

Good to hear from you. You'll find a new video of my trains that I posted a couple of days ago on the "So what are you running today" thread. I hope you enjoy it!

Free market exists within certain economic unions. China is not part of the EU or us CUSMA or whatever the Canada-US-Mexico thingy is called.
China normally would qualify for what was known as "Most Favoured Nation" customs tariffs.
In the early 2000s, China labor was much cheaper than paying workers in Germany to manufacture goods. Following the reunification of East Germany, many German companies opened locations in the former DDR as salaries were less than in other parts of Germany. Within a decade, wages had risen closer to German norms and the companies sought to move facilities to other parts of Eastern Europe (Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania) where they could still benefit from lower costs. By the 2000s, more and more companies were moving production to China. By 2012, due to problems with Chinese labor (entire staff going home for holidays and not returning, etc) and the fact that China had to increase salaries at facilities, companies started looking at other locations. Vietnam, India, Malaysia and others became places that were of interest to European manufacturers. Ultimately Vietnam was the biggest winner of that group.
Economic crises in 2008 and since have led to production costs in some areas dropping and some manufacturers resumed operations in Europe, but the production is much more streamlined and many of the parts are still made in China or elsewhere.

At no point in this process, was any cost reduction passed on to the customer in terms of lower purchase price...

That's my 2 cents, which thanks to inflation is now about 10 cents.

Regards

Mike C

Agreed wholeheartedly, but is only one of many concerns about goods at the moment...

Does your supermarket buy quality goods and try to find them at the best cost or do they simply look for the lowest cost item.
I have found that the best navel orange brands are rarely available and most often, they are replaced by oranges imported from other countries.
Ontario, Canada and Georgia, USA are known for good peaches, but the supermarket sells canned peaches from Greece.
For years, Canadian supermarkets have sold jarred pickles from Canada or the USA, but today, some are from India.
Little packaged servings of Fruit Salad say Fruit from South America on them, but they are packaged in Thailand

It is no different for model trains or the real thing for that matter.
A Stadler train (Made in Switzerland) likely has parts that were made in Poland, made in Spain or sourced from outside Stadler's own parts chain.
The same is true for a Bombardier (Alstom) or Siemens lok as it is for 1/87 or 1/160 models of the same.

I would like to see it clearly labelled.

Regards

Mike C

I'm sorry my comments are seen as unfriendly. Maybe some of us just don't understand the obsession with knowing where something is made. All I can think is that it's an "East Vs West" thing.

However, I will take the point and keep my nose out of this thread.

No the free market does not exist.
Society are based on the laws and rules created by politicians.
States are difference.
Economic crises are results when states overproduce products which nobody buys it.
In fact do the world have so many toys factory that produce train models but who supports these?
I did wrote IF Märklin move to China they do it, but what is the reason?

So the Flying Scotsman comes a long way from China. It seems all surprise locos come from their.
But AFAIK the quality is quite good nowadays.

the same here, now You can't even get spare parts for locos anymore (39 series)

John