Pond James Pond
New member
Back in the 90s there were a few European car brands known for their, shall we say, loose interpretation of the word "quality".
Two examples were the Spanish marque, Seat ("Sei-at") which produced cars unable to cope with the weather outside the Iberian peninsula, whilst being somewhat inefficient, and unreliable, but cheap. Then there was the Czech marque, Skoda, whose existance spawned no end of poor jokes
(What do you call a Skoda with two exhaust pipes? A wheel-barrow! Haha-hoohoo! Why do Skodas have heated rear windows? To keep your hands warm as you push...! Guffaw!! You get the idea.)
Anyway, in the late 90's both these brands were bought out by VW who also own Audi. After an extensive and very successful re-branding campaign, Seats were seen as the youthful peppy brand for those young at heart, whilst Skodas became the smart shopers choice of a quality product without the price.
All this is to illustrate that you can essentially buy a Seat or Skoda and be buying the same engine, chassis, build and similar performance/style as an Audi priced 40-50% higher.
In other words one of the only remaining reasons to specifically buy an Audi, beyond some exclusive performance models, is the badge. For day-to-day driving it is just that badge that will show any difference in the quality of one's journey.
The connection with guns?
Well, I'd like to know which are the brands for which, to all intents and purposes, the buyer is paying a premium for the letters stamped on the side of the slide?
Which companies managed to raise their retail price by virtue of their name?
I can think of a few, but my opinion is purely based on what I've read here and not on any real hands-on experience of the wider gun market, so I'll just see what others come up with.
(PS, let's keep this civil, eh? They're just brands, not family honours!)
Two examples were the Spanish marque, Seat ("Sei-at") which produced cars unable to cope with the weather outside the Iberian peninsula, whilst being somewhat inefficient, and unreliable, but cheap. Then there was the Czech marque, Skoda, whose existance spawned no end of poor jokes
(What do you call a Skoda with two exhaust pipes? A wheel-barrow! Haha-hoohoo! Why do Skodas have heated rear windows? To keep your hands warm as you push...! Guffaw!! You get the idea.)
Anyway, in the late 90's both these brands were bought out by VW who also own Audi. After an extensive and very successful re-branding campaign, Seats were seen as the youthful peppy brand for those young at heart, whilst Skodas became the smart shopers choice of a quality product without the price.
All this is to illustrate that you can essentially buy a Seat or Skoda and be buying the same engine, chassis, build and similar performance/style as an Audi priced 40-50% higher.
In other words one of the only remaining reasons to specifically buy an Audi, beyond some exclusive performance models, is the badge. For day-to-day driving it is just that badge that will show any difference in the quality of one's journey.
The connection with guns?
Well, I'd like to know which are the brands for which, to all intents and purposes, the buyer is paying a premium for the letters stamped on the side of the slide?
Which companies managed to raise their retail price by virtue of their name?
I can think of a few, but my opinion is purely based on what I've read here and not on any real hands-on experience of the wider gun market, so I'll just see what others come up with.
(PS, let's keep this civil, eh? They're just brands, not family honours!)
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