quote:

Originally posted by mavman:
I think many tend to forget that some of the youth atv's are rebadged.

the yamaha 50 and 90 and for a short while the grizzly 300, also the kawasaki 50 and 90 and then the kawasaki brute force 300, are built by Kymco. KYMCO is an abbreviation of Kwang Yang Motor Company, out of.....TAIWAN.

can't speak for honduh. Haven't dealt with them.

Polaris....all the bigger stuff...American and Canadian, FWIW. Don't know about the lil'uns.

all you gotta do is look at the vin number. First character will tell you the country of origin. I thought my Zuma was japanese. Nope. L for the first character designates CHINA

The big differences are that 1) its made to Honda/Yamaha/Suzukis specification and they have a reputation on the line, and 2) they have a dealer network and warranties to honor so you can be certain parts will be available for a few years.
It works both ways too... buy a John Deere mower from Home Depot and it will be a way lower quality "exclusive model for Home Depot" than the one you get at a John Deere dealer. Most any water heater or plumbing fixture from HD or Lowes is going to be lesser quality than the one you get from a plumbing supply. The companies that make the products are manufacturers and will make a product as cheaply or as bulletproof as the retailer dictates. Certain manufacturers (like Stihl) wont sell to big box stores because they refuse to make a cheap version and risk their reputation.

quote:

Originally posted by BD104X:
The companies that make the products are manufacturers and will make a product as cheaply or as bulletproof as the retailer dictates. Certain manufacturers (like Stihl) wont sell to big box stores because they refuse to make a cheap version and risk their reputation.

Deere was that way up until about 2000; then they went mass market

hint: the exact same DA1xx series mower is avaialble at the dealer and they sell hundreds of thousands of them nationwide. Exact same machine that HD/Lowes sells, they come off of the same assembly line. The difference is: it is a different line than the more expensive/better X series mowers

Bad Boy does it too, TSC mowers are in a completely different building than the dealers' mowers.

Mass-marketing.

Dealers don't have the same buying (and thus selling) power as mass market stores do.