German vacuums

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All Sebo models, most Miele models, although there are a couple of S2's made in China. Also the new Miele robotic vacuum, I don't believe that is made in China.

The Miele vacuums which are made in Germany are near 100% made in Germany. Miele make the bodys, motors and circuit boards in house, they even design the packaging to make sure it can withstand knocks and bangs in transit.

Sebo vacuums are again design and manufactured in Germany. I don't know of a Sebo which isn't. That the difference between a public and private company, no shareholders to constantly please, no need to cut corners are viciously (cough, Dyson cough). Sebo's motors I think are not made by SEBO but are made by other German companies. For example I think I am right in saying the updated Felix released in 2011 had a Bosch motor, versus an Amtek. Correct me anyone if I am wrong.

Up until recently, a vast majority of Bosch vacuums were also made in Germany. Indeed SEBO, Miele and Bosch all had "Made in Germany" proudly stamped on the top of the body. SEBO's have this plastered everywhere on their vacuums, including the power nozzles. However, a few recent Bosch vacuums have been made overseas, including China. The new Bosch Athlet is made in China, much to my disappointment of spending nearly £300 on a German company producing expensive items in China. I also wouldn't like to think that just because the Bosch is made in China, it is substandard, but a few of the plastic components on the Athlet of mine feel quite cheaply processed.
 
I am half German and spend a fair few weeks in Germany per year, due to work and family connections. Popular Staubsauger (vacuums) in Deutschland are Siemens, among a couple of other you don't here of over here such as Bomann, even Grundig make a couple. Dyson are popular as well. They mainly use cylinder vacuums as do most continental Europeans. Miele and Sebo are about as popular as they are in the UK. They go in for quality out there, even though a lot of them themselves admit quality has dropped a lot recently across several domestic appliances and begrudge made in China products for the most part.

A vacuum which has a growing appeal out there is Numatic Henrys, including the several variants of them. The standard red Henry, the green Hairo with the turbo brush and Hetti. The "grinning" vacuum, which is popular in Großbritannien (Britain). Again, you see them in offices and more commercial applications, but a fair few Germans appreciate there simplicity and ease of use, and durability. They are slightly more expensive out there, but not by much.

Numatic, much the same as Sebo really in the sense they are more for the commercial market. Numatic is fascinating. Their factory in Summerset manufactures everything. I mean everything! The plastic pellets, wheels bearings and they process the stainless steel, as well as manufacture the motors. Saw one of the updated Henrys with the new Wessel floors heads in its box and they now stamp "Made in Britain" on the box. Cant remember the last time I saw that on a vacuum cleaner.

I remember a few German product growing up, like Sennheiser headphones and my mothers early Sebo saying "Made in West Germany", obviously before the reunification. How times change.
 
The "Made in Germany" marketing slogan is seen as a mark of quality both in Germany and worldwide. AEG have tried it on their own products, but only some buyers/owners know the truth when they reverse an appliance and see that the rating plate states "Made in PRC."

Siemens of course own Bosch. In the UK the Siemens brand mostly overprice everything with their name on it - the stainless steel bodied washing machines are example - normally costing a lot more than the Bosch counterpart that has a different lower standard casing on it.

Germany have a lot of "in-house" product names that are not sold outside, and usually on Chinese made products. I have noticed that there is a growing trend in Germany for cheaper costing vacuums - after all, even Bosch vacuums in Germany are substantially cheaper to purchase over Miele and SEBO.
 
Or Thomas, who make the Aquafilter system. Olli is right about Miele, although I was under the impression that the S2 is made in Germany. It is only the older series that are made in the Miele Dongguan factory, ie s5,s4 & s700. I do believe they assemble them of the German made parts (Guettersloh plant produces the electronics, Eurskirchen plant produces the motors and the Warendorf plant produces the plastics. Of course, finally assembled in Bielefeld)


Miele do go to some detail, the plug and cord you will find is Made in Austria, obviously no Chinese supplied parts could survive the riggers of Miele's stringent testing.

Bosch may have some machines made in Germany, but I think the plastics feel a little flimsier than Miele, and I doubt they go to the same level of detail.
 
Vorwerk isn't really worth mentioning really is it. They are very hard to get hold of and they have one upright in their range? I don't know how easy or hard it is to find Vorwerk in the US but it is near on impossible in the UK. Only thing I can say is my dad had a Vorwerk in the 80's, said it was a pig to use.
 
Oh it's driving me nuts but there is another firm that makes uprights at a very old family owned facility in Germany that the family has slowly expanded over the years. Expensive, reportedly high quality, similar in some ways to Sebos (and we could get in long arguments over who came up with what feature first).
 
similar in some ways to Sebos

DT, the only one I can think of is Vorwerk who did the whole swivel kneck and interchageble floorheads on an upright before Sebo brought out the Felix. Those are very high end and sold in the same was Kirbys.

I doubt Aerus make anything in germany, otherwise we'd likely have them for sale in the UK and around Europe, which they never have been. Shame, as I think there would be a real market for them.
 
The Felix came about from SEBO by an engineer who used to work for Vorwerk, which is why the Felix is very similar to a lot of the Vorwerk uprights.

But, as Oli notes quite correctly, Vorwerk isn't exactly available widespread, they're not cheap and then the bags and consumables can be pricey and hard to find.

Thomas have started selling in some EU countries other than Germany, so its only a matter of time.

There's also ‪Kärcher‬ but I don't rate their vacuums that highly. Like Bosch, they may well buy in some tools and plastics from Wessel Werk but they don't spend massively on quality IMHO.
 
Nope, it's not Vorwerk. I stumbled on them a year ago, they have a Wikipedia page even, but darned if I can remember the name of the company. It's obscure and the company was started I believe either right before or right after WWII. It is considerably older than Sebo.

Also, doesn't Nilfisk manufacture in Germany?
 
Wikipedia has Nilfisk manufacturing in Germany too? They also turn up in listings of German vacuum manufacturers I have been prowling to find the name of that company I just cannot remember. It's making me crazy that I cannot remember the name! Their uprights look a lot like a Sebo upright, are dark colored and are supposed to be extremely high quality.
 

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