are any Abu multipliers made in China ?

I've been promised a new Abu 6500 lever drag multiplier at a knock-down price . Someone has told me that this is because production has recently been moved from Sweden to China , and the quality of the parts has been downgraded at the same time . The seller says not so , all of the m/pliers are still made in Sweden and to a high spec .
Just wondered whether anyone can shed any light on this .
Cheers

I read something recently that production had moved to China and that the quality in the new reels isnt near as good.

Thanks , Nige . That sounds like the article I heard about but didn't see .
The seller tells me that it only applies to fixed spool , not multiplier . I'll see if I can get an answer from Abu themselves .
Cheers

I think the abu seven was made in china, not sweden?
jd

Hi Blowin,

Have a look on the forums in http://www.worldseafishing.com there was some discussion recently about problems with cheaper reels being made in China.

I think the abu seven was made in china, not sweden?

That would explain the completely crap level wind mechanism thats on these models then so.... :evil: Had to remove mine after v little use as plastic (?!) cog had virtually melted.

Abu Garcia Big Game series multipliers(gold anodised) are made in Taiwan and have an easily removed " Made in Taiwan" sticker on the reel bridge. If the country of manufacture is not stamped on the bridge of any reel exercise caution before buying!
I bought six Penn 65 boat reels only to discover that they were made in China (as many Penn reels now are.) They gave me nothing but bother as all the spools had to be filed down to prevent binding within the reels. These reels had "Made in China"printed on the boxes only.
My experience with Shimano's is not much better having bought two different models both "Made in Malaysia" both of which turned out to be cheap and nasty with spares difficult to obtain. Should have bought the "Made in Japan" models which are much better engineered and quality controlled.
BFR (British Fly Reels)are now "Made in China"and are total rubbish as in some cases the spare spools (supplied with the reels)do not fit.
I hope I never need spares for my BFR reels. It goes on and on ,exercise caution,examine both the reel and the box for country of manufacture (which is a good guide to quality) and "buyer beware"

Hi guys ,
Many thanks for all that info . Now I'm not sure what to do !!!

Guys,

There is as much crap comes out of Europe, USA and anywhere else in the west as does out of China at the minute, fact is China also produces some very good quality stuff too. The bad things that are being said here about Chinese workmanship were also said in the 60's about Japan, then in the 70's and 80's about Korea, both these countries are now not so cheap and well respected for the tackle they make.

Abu do make some models in China now, but they hold a big stake in the factory out there, all the management are Swedish as are the techs. The did get some reels made in Taiwan, they learned a lesson there. The factory were putting on offer to anyone Abu style reels behind the backs of Abu. You wont see any new Abu made in Taiwan. China do make some models right through, others have the parts made in China and are assembled in Sweden. The Mag Elites and the new 6500, 7500 etc are to my knowledge still made 100% in Sweden.

What goes for Abu also goes for Penn, although the Internationals and some of the higher end Penn reels are still made in the US. Most of the parts for the 525Mags are made in the UK and assembled there too.

It doesn't take a genius to work out why this is all so, like me, none of you want to pay 300 or 400 euros for an Abu or Penn reel, that's where they would be heading if they didn't compete and get stuff made in a low labour cost country like China. I bet in 30 years time or sooner, some angler will write " look out for the Chinese made Abu, they are better than the ones from ???????" who knows, because 30 odd years ago that's what was being said about Japan.

Just my 2 cents on the matter :)

Tom.