Modern Vespa

So if they were so good why did Saab go Bankrupt and Mercedes Benz didn't ?

Even when they became a GM parts bin special they still couldn't sell enough to make money.

Great cars no doubt but no one bought them.

NB Everyone I know who has owned a Royal Alloy has had them break repeatedly.

There's a lot more to success than just quality product

Like a number of sales for instance.

'quality' btw is a tricky concept. I have been an ISO9000 advisor and although quite straightforward it differs from general perception.
Simplified: The measure of the quality of a product is the measure in which it does what says on the tin.

Consumers though to a lárger extend are influenced by marketing and peer opinion; in other words perception.

I mean look at watches. In meeting specs, performance and price the Casio F91-W is arguably the best watch in the world by far. Yet Rolex cannot make enough to sell for money.

Back to the Saab question; too far off the middle of the road so missing the peer appreciation and Mercedes success is perception akin the Rolex thing.

nope; that can be all 'me too', The Opel Kadett was for mnay years a sales topper in Europe for no other reason than the 'gravity' of sales.

My second car was a 99 built like a tank so no need to buy a new model , people who owned a Saab drove them all there live
When Saab started using gm parts that love quickly disappeared , you might as well buy an Opel

I've had a Casio F91W for decades - since ~1990 - the plastic straps are the only weak point! I always replace the strap once, then the next time just buy a new F91W. The old one gets its 'ears' ground off and then it gets Velcro'd to a scooter. Accurate to within a minute a year, and the batteries last well over ten years. I never take it off except to change a strap or put a new one on.

They still retail for ~$16, not much more than I originally paid way back when!

I've never seen the point in "fancy watches".

I bought this -$20 Casio about ten years ago when I started to drive tour busses through different time zones because we always logged our driving and service time by our home base time zone regardless of where we were
during our charter trips.

The strap needs replacing, and I don't remember when it last had a new battery, but pretty certain it's only been replaced once.

It only comes off for the shower.

Nah - stays on for the shower!

I bought this one 12 years ago for about 2750€ it is now about 8 or 9000€
So a better buy than a casio 😁
It is 67 speedy

In the 2008 recession GM was in a world of hurt. They canned Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac. Eventually they sold the company to Spyker which:

In early 2011, Saab began to run out of money, and Spyker were not able to cover the losses. Both companies stopped paying bills, and on 30 March several suppliers refused further deliveries to Saab's factory in Trollhättan. Initially Spyker CEO Victor Muller blamed the media for the problems, and claimed that Saab had no problems with funding.[37] On 5 April all production was halted at Saab's plant in Trollhättan.

It wasn't the cars, it was mismanagement.

Oh and Volvo, sold by Ford in the same recession and owned by Qianjiang who also owns Lotus, Benelli, QJ Motors and Keeway and others, survives because of better management.

OK, if you buy for investment - I use a watch to tell the time and date, not to work out how much my 'ornament' has beaten inflation.

I buy expensive motorcycle helmets as an investment. Oh wait...

Casio F-91W for me also!

The only good reason for having a good watch is you can trade them (plus $17) for a hotel room !

Geely owns Lotus.

Geely owns Volvo also.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (ZGH), commonly known as Geely Holding (/ˈdʒiːli/ ; Chinese: 吉利控股; pinyin: Jílì Kònggǔ), is a Chinese multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The company was founded by, and is privately owned by Chinese entrepreneur Li Shufu.

The company manufactures and sells vehicles under the brands of Geely, Lynk & Co and Zeekr brands, which are part of the Geely Auto Group business unit, along with its subsidiaries and joint ventures such as Volvo Cars, Polestar, Proton, Smart and Lotus, as well as commercial vehicles under the London EV Company, Radar Auto / Riddara and Farizon brands. It produces motorcycles under its subsidiaries Zhejiang Geely Ming Industrial (Jiming and Geely), Qianjiang Motorcycle (QJMotor and Keeway), and Benelli. It also holds a 17% stake in Aston Martin and owns half of Horse Powertrain, an engine manufacturing joint venture with Renault.[13][14]

I had my corporate chain wrong but you get the point.

That I was right all along. Agreed.

'better' being confused further...

Factored in maintenance? I have a battery changed every 7-8 years for 2€.

Best sell it now-ish. Mind that is when best is investment value. Seems that the luxury watch market is in flux. The speedy may be a bit more resilliant than most but still.

On the corporate field, it is all much different, diffuse and again ALL about the marketing/market of the product.
Way back in the previous c. Mercedes had engines produced in the SsangYong plant and those went in a gazillion EU market vans with no issues whatsoevvah.
On that same note the Indian made Jaguars add shine to the image of the quality of build.

Indian made Jaguars ?

indeed

no; jaguars from the land of the tiger

The staff at JLR who were once making Jaguars have been moved over to Range Rover production to keep up with demand and the massive profits they bring.

My fear is that any future investment in Jaguar will be halted if the higher ups in JLR suss out they they can keep making lots of money without making Electric Jaguars because let's face it, no one's going to by them.

Actually, a good helmet is an investment…in that grey matter 'twixt the ears. Ask me how I know.

How many miles are on it?

I've owned a RA 150 for 4 years now and absolutely love it. I've only had small, annoying issues with the muffler, starter and a broken belt. Otherwise, it runs like a charm. Great conversation piece as well.