Where is accordion manufacturing going ?

[Chickers]

In a recent review of Bugari's website, I see they have a "re-organization" taking place.
If I understand the information correctly, they have a new company president, management changes likely,
and a new partial ownership by China.
Is that correct ? They do not indicate the share of the China investment, but it sounds like a major deal, and
quite extensive.
Looks like Bugari will have a new plant in China, if not already.
Anyone out there know if this is fact , or rumor ?
CHICKERS

 

[Scuromondo]

I noticed that last week. The Chinese market is so colossal that it is impossible to ignore, and I understand there are more students of the accordion in China than anywhere in the world.

In the public communication release on this restructuring, Bugari seemed to almost go out of their way to repeatedly emphasize their “Made In Italy” tradition, their “Italian handcraft tradition,” and their “100% Hand Made in Castelfidardo heritage.” Maybe they feel that these statements will put to rest any concerns that Bugari is going to start building accordions in China like Hohner, or using Chinese components like other manufacturers.

...Paradoxically, it instead further raises my suspicion that this is exactly what they may have planned for the long term! It’s hard to imagine that a Chinese company would make a heavy investment in a foreign manufacturing operation and not have it result in Chinese jobs.

 

[debra]

Old news: the website has not been altered for about half a year. The Chinese investment is not new. Chinese investors want to put money in anything that gives them profit. That may or may not involve the creation of jobs in China. It doesn't have to, as long as it's a profit-generating investment.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

I noticed that last week. The Chinese market is so colossal that it is impossible to ignore, and I understand there are more students of the accordion in China than anywhere in the world.

In the public communication release on this restructuring, Bugari seemed to almost go out of their way to repeatedly emphasize their “Made In Italy” tradition, their “Italian handcraft tradition,” and their “100% Hand Made in Castelfidardo heritage.” Maybe they feel that these statements will put to rest any concerns that Bugari is going to start building accordions in China like Hohner, or using Chinese components like other manufacturers.

...Paradoxically, it instead further raises my suspicion that this is exactly what they may have planned for the long term! It’s hard to imagine that a Chinese company would make a heavy investment in a foreign manufacturing operation and not have it result in Chinese jobs.

I have to echo what Paul said, and add a few comments. First of all, the history of Chinese investment in Bugari goes back further than a half-year. When it started, there were all kinds of rumors that a Chinese company hat bought Bugari. Some time after that, and after the debut of the Bugari Evo, there was an announcement of a partnership between Bugari and a Chinese company that Bugari would be selling high-end accordions in China with that Chinese company as sole distributor and that a collaborative effort between Bugari and that Chinese company would also make inexpensive, small accordions to be sold exclusively in China. I don’t know what came of that. I can only tell you that the model name of that small digital accordion, Mia, must have been owned by the man at Bugari because he left Bugari to start Proxima Digital Accordions of Italy, whose first product, named the Mia, is scheduled to be released next month.

 

[OuijaBoard]

IIRC there's at least one, possibly two, detailed threads on this site about a Chinese concern buying into Bugari. The earliest thread concerned a buy-in that Bugari people eventually publically announced as limited only to the EVO models. But a later, more recent thread concerned rumors of a more extensive buy-in. On that thread, a poster who had recently been in Castelfidardo noted it was announced in the local paper, and also stated that rumor in the various local accordion houses was that workers were leaving Bugari. Per that last thread it was anyone's guess which if any Bugari models would remain completely Italian-made.

A couple of years ago, shortly before the more recent thread about the Bugari situation, I purchased a new MM Bugari "Juniorfisa" 26/48, which for years has been a solid Italian-made folk performer instrument. Super-Durall reeds. It wasn't cheap. It arrived with sticky keys that on examination by my techs proved to be caused by some kind of lubricant gunk over-applied to the interior mechanism that had to be cleaned off key by key. Without me telling them of this latest Chinese buy-out rumor---at that point I wasn't even aware of it--the techs commented that upon opening it up they were surprised at the crudeness of the interior construction. One commented, "It almost looked like what we see out of China."

My nice Italian small folk 2-voice PA is now a beautiful Beltuna 26/60.

 

[Scuromondo]

But the Bugari is still labeled “Made In Italy,” no? What I mean to say is: the accordion was not actually manufactured in China, was it?

 

[SurreyAlan]

There's a lot of factories in Italy that use immigrant Chinese workers for textiles and leather goods so they can have a Made in Italy label attached which attracts a higher price tag not that necessarily means lower quality but one could envisage a situation where parts are imported, assembled and labelled made in Italy.

 

[Chrisrayner]

There's a lot of factories in Italy that use immigrant Chinese workers for textiles and leather goods so they can have a Made in Italy label attached which attracts a higher price tag not that necessarily means lower quality but one could envisage a situation where parts are imported, assembled and labelled made in Italy.

This may have something to do with the initiation of the Covid19 pandemic in Italy.