Some of the members here maybe able to answer most of your questions. However as what Märklin's plans are for the North American market, I don't M* has figured that out yet itself.[B)]

Marklin, Inc. has been around since 1985, and is as you say the factory distributor in the North American market. There is quite a bit of dealer support, and an agressive marketing program through the model train magazines, and train shows. AFAIK Marklin and now TRIX are the only two German and Austrian model train makers that market directly to the North American market. Fleischmann and Roco market indirectly, and I may add, very ineffectively, through independent distributors. They are simply not on the radar screen to any great extent.

The internet has changed the distribution equation of all the large factories in Europe in ways that are not entirely known as yet. Marklin has a program whereby US dealers can buy from the factory as German dealers can-but I'm not sure how it works exactly.

I am a fan of Märklin, but I agree that in the USA they are missing a large opportunity. They are still very small, but can be so much bigger, if they had better policies and pricing for the US (and world-wide). They are in a global market and the opportunity is truly great if they had a more global and consistent approach in their "go-to-market" value chain.

I was hoping to hear that their North America operation was relatively new, and so I could have written off many of their current issues to being new etc... but, it seems they have been working here since 1985. However, it is not clear if Märklin USA is completely owned by Märklin in Germany. If not, and the North America operation is sort of a "Master Distributor" and only sharing some of the goals of the parent company, then there is probably a lot of opportunity for the situation to improve if Märklin Germany were to change this arrangement and take a more direct and active interest in managing the North American market or atleast establishing more consistent policies and pricing globally. After all the Internet is here to stay - people will share information cutting across time, distance and costs (ie this Forum and many others are a perfect example). The Internet can actually be a great tool for the company (again, this Forum is good example), if it is leveraged to build relationships with partners (Dealers around the world) and with customers.

However, no matter what Märklin does about the Internet, they should to have a global approach to Dealers and Customers with much more consistent policies and prices.

Anyway, I remain hopeful that we will continue to see improvements from Märklin, they are a good company and have an opportunity to become a Great Company. The key is to leverage the Global Supply Chain and the Global Market place. It could be great for Märklin and I think it would also help our Hobby in general.