CEO criticizes gun market rules In conversation with NDR Schleswig-Holstein, Castagne mentioned several reasons for the withdrawal. He says that the arms market in Germany has been increasingly regulated, so sales have dropped significantly. In addition, it is no longer financially worthwhile to produce sports and service weapons for the police in Eckernförde. In addition, according to Castagne, there are no large orders from the Bundeswehr, for example. Castagne complains that his company is discriminated against: "SIG Sauer is systematically excluded from the tender because of its international orientation". International orientation in this case means that most weapons are developed in the United States. The company was also burdened by the effects of the corona crisis .
Sig Sauer Eckernförde will soon be gone NDR 1 Welle Nord - News for Schleswig-Holstein - June 4th, 2020 05:04 pm Author: Sven Brosda After almost 70 years it is over: the arms manufacturer Sig Sauer in Eckernförde is closing. This affects almost 130 employees who have been informed by the management about the end.
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All employees are fired According to Castagne, the employees should be fired. The company is currently examining which orders can still be processed. Negotiations with the works council on a social plan for employees are also under way. When exactly the location should be closed is still open. The only thing that is clear, according to Castagne, is that this should happen this year. The traditional company has been manufacturing weapons in Eckernförde since 1951. Since 2000 it has been part of L&O Holding, which also includes the US sister Sig Sauer Inc. in Newington in New Hampshire.
In the industry, it is now expected that parts of the arms production from Eckernförde will be taken over by another manufacturer of L&O Holding. Other areas of arms production would then be supplied from the United States (Sig Sauer USA).
Ministry of Economy: "Bitter message" Schleswig-Holstein's state government was "caught cold" by the announced closure of the Eckernförde site, said Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Thilo Rohlfs. "This is very bitter news for the region, but also for Schleswig-Holstein as a business location as a whole." The official firing point for weapons and firecrackers in Eckernförde only resumed operations in February after modernization . The country invested 400,000 euros for this, also to send a clear signal in the direction of Sig Sauer, said Rohlfs. It is still unclear whether the continued existence of the facility makes sense.
Illegal arms deliveries to Colombia In recent years, Sig Sauer has been in the headlines for illegal arms deliveries to Colombia. In the meantime, three former managers were sentenced to suspended sentences in 2019 . You were in the process of being responsible for delivering nearly 50,000 SP 2022 pistols from Germany to a sister company in the United States between 2009 and 2011. More than 38,000 of these weapons were resold to Colombia - a violation of the German foreign trade and war weapons control law.
New investigation by the prosecutor According to the Kiel public prosecutor's office, investigations have been initiated again because Sig Sauer weapons allegedly produced in Eckernförde have appeared in countries to which they should not have been delivered from Germany - specifically to Mexico . It is currently being investigated against unknowns.
Posts: 6633 | Location: Virginia | Registered: December 23, 2010
Originally posted by jimb888: So no longer made anywhere in Switzerland or in Germany? They don't have another plant elsewhere?
Yes, the United States.
Yes and this could be a great part of Sig US if all 130 employees are relocated here. Seal them off from the main company to let them create and build fine weapons.
Posts: 17995 | Location: The Bluegrass State! | Registered: December 23, 2008
I'm saddened, both for the skilled craftsman who will lose their livlihood, as well as the loss of an iconic and historic firearms manufacturer. This really be the end of an era.
I'm also saddened because I had dreams of one day being able to import a few specific SIG Sauer models not available in the U.S.
I'm hoping a 'reverse Berlin Airlift' plan can be put into motion and some entrepreneurial philanthropists will start importing/ rescuing German SIGs into the U.S. at a mad pace, before the deadline.
Group Buy?
Posts: 7324 | Location: the Centennial state | Registered: August 21, 2006
Just now had a WhatsApp text exchange with my colleague in Germany. He said that in addition to illegally selling arms to Colombia, they also sold arms to Iran and pocketed the money. Managers were sentenced.
Originally posted by ersatzknarf: Just now had a WhatsApp text exchange with my colleague in Germany. He said that in addition to illegally selling arms to Colombia, they also sold arms to Iran and pocketed the money. Managers were sentenced. In his words, they did a lot of bad things.
Wow. I had heard about Colombia, but not Iran.
——————————————— The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1
I have never heard anything about Iran sales and unless you can give us a cite I highly doubt it is true. The deal with the Colombia Government was done at the request of the US military. It wasn't a rogue operation.
If this completely shuts down operations in Germany, can SIG US (assuming it has the funds and inclination) open up a satellite operation of its own there? As others have pointed out, there's a lot of good resources collected there.
Posts: 27306 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008
