Max
- posted
18 years ago
Max
They do look very similar and I can not say for sure it is or not a Yamata but I can tell you that is you go for the Yamata any repair parts will be non existent, at least you can get service for the Viking.
That may be possible, except those machines would not be made by Yamata. Yamata does not make the Huskystars.
gwh
Maybe not, but Husqvarna doesn't make them, either.
That's true, but you don't have to get very far inside the machine to tell who makes them.
gwh
Well now the plot thickens a bit. Seems the corporate controllers of Viking (VSM group) have been purchased by the same holding company that holds Singer. These will be still all separate but looks to me like the European manufacturing is into mergers and acquisitions. Below an excerpt; "Industri Kapital Sells VSM Group to Affiliates of Kohlberg Management IV, L.L.C. Industri Kapital ("IK") and affiliates of Kohlberg Management IV, L.L.C. ("Kohlberg"), have signed an agreement on the sale of VSM Group Holding AB ("VSM"), a leading supplier of high end consumer sewing machines and accessories under the Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff brands. Affiliates of Kohlberg already control the well known Singer brand of household sewing machines. The transaction will be made by a holding company, to be called SVP Holdings, reflecting its ownership of the Singer, Viking and Pfaff brands. "
A link to read it all.
Isn't this deja vu all over again? Who was the Hong Kong businessman who was buying up all the sewing machine companies a few years back -- until his empire collapsed and he became a fugitive. Didn't he own these same companies at one time? Plus some others, I think.
The plot is so thick it's solidifying. I thought Viking bought Singer a few years back, and then bought up Pfaff.
Funny old world.
Sally
I don't think there's been any connection between Viking (Husqvarna) and Singer. Industri Kapital, which is in the process of selling VSM bought the sewing machine business from Electrolux in the 1990's.
Singer did own Pfaff for a short time, until Singer went bankrupt in
1999. Pfaff reorganized under German ownership and then became a part of VSM two or three years ago.The Kohlberg people say VSM with its premium brands of Husqvarna and Pfaff, sold through independent dealers, will remain a separate unit from Singer which focuses on models for the big box outlets, although the recent president of Singer will head up the new VSP division controlling the three brands.
gwh
I was told the reason Husqvarna farmed out manufacture of the Huskystar line was because the high cost of labour and materials in Europe meant they could not put a basic, good quality, mechanical machine on the market at an attractive price. Probably the same thing for Pfaff.
The biggest piece of the market is for machines under $500CDN (whatever that works out to in US dollars). Unfortunately in that area there's a lot of junk, especially at some of the big box outlets.
gwh
Replying to my own post (very bad form) I found the information I remembered reading about:
James Ting and his Semi-Tech Global empire.
...
Whatever else it meant, either they were careless or didn't expect someone with your eye to be present. The world seems to be going in the direction that "sewing machine" will not only be a generic term but will refer to the one and only owner/controller of domestic sewing machine production.
I started this thread because my mother is in the market. She is rather price sensitive and won't buy a good reconditioned machine and I try to convince her that she'll find a better machine more satisfactory than a cheap one that will perform poorly and then require replacement after a little while. (I used a cheap Kenmore for a few weeks that was quite impressive. It was new, so maybe that doesn't signify.) The reports on the Huskystars I've seen give them a good quality-to-price ratio and I thought she could save a few buck with a Yamata that is a Huskystar in all but name.
Somewhere in this thread is an assertion that Yamata does not make Huskystar but there is no declaration as to who does make them. It can't be a very well-kept secret. There is no great urgency for me to know (sew what? ha!); but at this point I'm as curious as I was when I first saw those Yamatas that could have passed for Huskystars.
Max
That is exactly why all the European companies contract out their low end machines, as well as why there are no machines made in the US any longer. Wages are far to high to compete with the likes of Taiwan, China , Czech republic etc.
Not a particularly scientific method but in looking at the parts books for those the part number on many parts particularly the needle plates and bobbin cover plates are the same as some Janome machine. Janome is the largest producer of badged sewing machines on the planet. Now there is nothing to say they do not own Yamatta or make their machines as well. The one problem again with the Yamatta is no parts support. Best you keep with a known name brand. Also the Kenmore's were like made by Janome. Just because a place makes a product does not necessarily mean it is on par with their other products. Viking can dictate better quality parts as in made in Japan rather then China etc. etc.
I toured the viking factory 3 weeks ago and there was noise on the factory floor about viking being sold but there was no mention of the purchasing group. There was also much concern about jobs being moved out of sweden.
badged? does that mean machines made by janome but sold under another brand, i.e., kenmore?
do you mean in reference to components? I saw cartons of components for the viking platinum and designer lines that had come from other places but those were commodities, i.e., motors and disk drives. I suspect that other components may come from common sources if they 'fit' and then assembly is in Husqvarna. [The transmission in my Volvo [owned by Ford] is made by GM and the car was assembled in Ghent Belgium but the origin sticker says Sweden].
My Viking Huskylock serger 936 says made in Taiwan but of course no reference to the mfr or assembler name.
Kenneth in VA
Yes that is correct.
yes that is exactly what I mean.
They never do refercence the maker. There were 2 versions of the 936 and no telling who exactly made it.
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