Industria Argentina , Is There Anything That Doesnt Break?

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

To me, the cause is plain simple: planned obsolesence. Its a way to stimulate consumption, demand. In other words, it is like that and last so long on purpose. I recommend to google planned obsolesence.

Then why are almost all of these products available with much more quality and at a lower price in most other countries in the world.

The problem is, the poor consumers here don't know any better. I was telling my father in law about the pure quality of suit I had bought, he was annoyed and told me I had no right to expect a good quality suit without paying a fortune. He had no experience of an affordable suit with reliable quality in the last 20 years.

You are just parroting ideas which have no relavance to the symptoms. It's either planned obsolence or neo liberalism with you UBA graduates.

 

[johnw100]

To me, the cause is plain simple: planned obsolesence. Its a way to stimulate consumption, demand. In other words, it is like that and last so long on purpose. I recommend to google planned obsolesence.

But planned obsolesence is for items failing over time, most things I buy in Argentina are just crap from the beginning. And then they wont give your money back , just offer an exchange.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

ps...I have bought some pretty good shoes here. I will say that much!

The suits kill me though !....nylon disasters.

 

[Ries]

While there is certainly cheap shit here, I have found plenty of good quality industria argentina, and, usually, cheaper than equivalent US stuff.

But I have been a thingmaker, a welder, machinist, woodworker, and sewn clothing my whole life- so I am pretty good a judging quality before I buy.

I have found plenty of argentine shoes that are quite high quality. I have pairs that are five years old, still going strong. I have argentine made clothing that is great- I have a Hermanos Estebecarino leather vest I wear all the time, its probably five years old now, still gets me compliments every time I wear it. It wasnt cheap, but it was half the cost of a similar designer leather garment in the USA.
I wear argentine work clothes sometimes, like the porteros wear, its good value. I have a brand of argentine white cotton wife beaters I buy that are great. Better styling than cheap chinese crap you get at Target, only slightly more expensive.

Argentines actually make some pretty good industrial stuff- tools, machinery, things like that. A buddy of mine was trying to import, back to the USA, an Argentine made belt sander, which he reckons is probably one of the best designs in the world- but duties and taxes would double the prices, so he is making them up north, with the agreement of the guys in Argentina.

My wife has been doing a small line of jackets with some argentine fabrics, we visited the mills, they are as good as any other country.

I could go on in many categories- there are tons of industries here that make good stuff.

What I see, though, is a generation of Americans who have been spoiled by the Chinese government subsidizing manufacturing at below cost- so you expect prices on many things, and get them, at Walmart and Target and so on- that are artificially cheap.
I make things- and often find that retail prices in the USA, for a chinese object, are below my material costs- and thats for materials that are globally priced- metals that have a daily London price in 40,000lb quantities. The chinese, and to a lesser degree, other countries, are basically making things at a loss to keep up employment and develop key industries.

When you expect those kind of prices, yes, you will be dissapointed at Argentine made products that sell for similar amounts. The chinese pay a few dollars a day- Argentina does not.

Quality it available, you have to pay what it costs.
Personally, I avoid cheap chinese slave labor products, even if they are cheap. I would rather pay $8 for one singlet, hecho in argentina as opposed to $5 for three, made in vietnam or pakistan, where a garment worker make $30 (US) a month.
But thats just me.

 

[camberiu]

While there is certainly cheap shit here, I have found plenty of good quality industria argentina, and, usually, cheaper than equivalent US stuff.

Actually, Argentina had to impose trade barriers against Brazilian made products (in open violation to the Mercosul treaty) because Argentinian companies could compete in quality and price with their Brazilian counter parts. I am not talking about cheap Chinese products here. I am talking about products made in Brazil by unionized workers with social benefits and working under one of the most rigid labor laws in the world.

Appliances, electronics, heavy machinery, medical equipment and many other items were either taxed or outright banned because the Argentinian industry was unable to compete on both quality and price. The quality difference between a product MADE IN BRAZIl vs.MADE IN ARGENTINA is very noticeable and evident.

 

[pauper]

Jump on the aliexpress gravy train (before the correo collapses). At least then you are buying crap at prices that scream crap (though you will have to involve two admittedly shonky Argentinian products in the transaction - Correo Argentino and the peso):

Las compras en las webs chinas colapsaron los envíos del Correo | Aduana, AFIP, China - Infobae

 

[Somewhereinba]

After 1 year the soles of my Reeboks "Hecho en Argentina" decided to disconnect themselves from the shoes, now when I walk they make a squeeking sound. Superglue has been attempted with limited success. My shoes from Mistral also decided to start falling apart after a few months. Needless to say I haven't much faith in "Hecho en Argentina". The Argentinian people are speaking, internet usage is increasing, knowledge is readily available, e-commerce is growing and will continue to grow. The people here know they are getting a crap deal, so why wouldn't they look overseas to save themselves money? The more Cristina tries to control the people, the worse off it will be for her - I think in the end knowledge and freedom will prevail.

 

[camberiu]

DELETE

 

[Matiasba]

Just another benefit of protectionist policies.

Agree.

And apparently the manufacturers elsewhere in the world forgot this little trick, that only the Argentinian companies seem to remember.

The thing is, that quality industries are always from developed countries that have strong internal markets and dont need an internal demand (thats why they expand and conquer other markets) as this non.competitive industries from the non developped world. So if you give these national industries from peripheric countries competition, you ll kill them. In fact, that happened with Argentinas national industries both times the market opened to external products, in neoliberal governments: they dismanteled a lot of industries because they simply couldnt make it with external competition. Competition makes the rich richest and the poor poorer, in other words, concentrates the capital, and that serves to have a more competitive product to go and conquer other markets to concentrate more the capital and like that ad infinitum. So you will always have protectionism with these local and week industries of these countries. So they need to grow and they only have one variable: internal market (they dont export), unlike the big corporations of China, the US, Germany, Japan, etc. It might sound paradoxical, buit to get competitive they have to make poor quality stuff.
And besides, this does not mean that planned obsolesence is out of the first world products, with smart phones, ipods, and a huge etc

 

[Matiasba]

Then why are almost all of these products available with much more quality and at a lower price in most other countries in the world.

The problem is, the poor consumers here don't know any better. I was telling my father in law about the pure quality of suit I had bought, he was annoyed and told me I had no right to expect a good quality suit without paying a fortune. He had no experience of an affordable suit with reliable quality in the last 20 years.

You are just parroting ideas which have no relavance to the symptoms. It's either planned obsolence or neo liberalism with you UBA graduates.

If you have a week industry, but that means quality jobs for argentines, you MUST protect it. If you give competition to this week industry, you will kill it and kill and important source of jobs. Of course as they know they ll win, big industries always want to come to the country with their products. They want market liberties, to enter a country and sell their products. And as you have their embassy putting presure to local governments to demolish protectionism, you have local governments with their duty: protect national industry and try to make it competitive. Which of course big external industries not like.