As the Big Joe director of sales, my response here might be a bit suspect which I understand. However, I think it might be of interest to share my perspective in this conversation.

Personally, I am third generation in this industry and lived through Toyota coming into the USA in the late 70s and have seen this story before. Many folks considered those early Toyota trucks garbage as well until the 3F and 4Y power plants started turning 30,000hours with few if any issues. When the Korean competitors came along years later... same story, but they hold their own in our industry and on the auto side pretty well these days.

As to China and specifically EP who is our parent company, the development I have seen first hand on both design and quality is pretty amazing over the past 7 years, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Today, I would put our EP product quality up against anything on the street. I am sure some here have had issues with Chinese manufacturers on parts support, design issues, and documentation which can be hugely frustrating. However, you would be mistaken grouping EP in with the rest. Our product support in North America within our Big Joe network is very strong, as is our customer service. Our management team includes seasoned factory veterans from MCFA, Toyota, and NACCO and with our 60+ year Big Joe legacy in the USA we are a force to reckon with. In the past year we doubled our warranty, not because we needed to - but because we barely had any. On the customer feedback side, things are also trending extremely well. Recently we surved the owners of one of our most popular products- the J1 Joey, and the feedback was exceptional with 72% of respondents noting a 5/5 and 24% a 4/5 on overall satisfaction with their purchase.

In Europe, the EP network is not yet as developed, so there may be some growing pains. However, just like in the past with other entrants this is somewhat to be expected as it is still early days. As to the product itself, the quality is there as is the opportunity for people that truly partner with EP to grow with them.

If anyone here has any questions about EP or Big Joe, feel free to message me.

Bill