[HeatherR]

Originally Posted by Number 3

No BS on Germany. You have misinterpretted my point. Germany has strong, very strong cultural bias to buy German. If you read any of my previous posts when we get to discussing this you would remember on my trip there to discover the closing of a Walmart. I was told that the German people don't Wang cheap Chinese made goods like we do. Further, in Germany, shops and department stores close earlier in the day, preventing shopping for price hence helping to support more expensive German products.

You should know better than to call BS on one of my posts LOL. I only bring real data to the table.........

But you are also correct, Germany is not as protectionist as Asia.

Oh and one more interesting story about the Germans. Apparently it is cheaper to buy a plane ticket to the U.S., go to an Audi dealer and buy your car, have the car shipped back to Germany, fly home to meet your car, have your car Federalized to German specifications than it is to buy the Audi in Germany.

Audi apparently threatened U.S. dealers to stop enabling this practice. You see they are such a captive market they can charge ridiculous amounts for their cars in Germany. To support this, if you take the German cars you refer to that are sold here under other GM Brands and compare prices you would be shocked. An Opel Astras that was sold here as a Saturn is the direct comparison.

Take off the 19% VAT and the Astra in Germany is still $19,000 plus...............for manual windows and locks, and no A/C.

As a Saturn, this same Astra had an upgraded engine, Power windows and locks, A/C and many upgrades and stickered for around $16,000.

Captive market!!

He's not BSing you on the Wal-Mart...If it is the same one I was there the day before it closed! Shocked that a Wal-Mart was going out of business, but it did.

Oh and they do have a protected market...not for the same reasons and to the extent of others but they do...