Okay, so Post-war Germany largely ignored the high-end bicycle component industry, leaving that to the English, the French, and the Italians. We wonder why. We speculate that this has done the high-end bicycle component industry no good. But has it done the English, the French, and the Italians any good? In the long run, I think, it hasn't. And has it done Germany any harm? Again, I think not.
Post-war German industry seems to have recognized the fact that the 20th Century was the Age of the Automobile. As a business decision, you can hardly fault them.
Well, Raleigh was practically the reason that Nottingham existed for instance, and
vide the area where Peugeot and many others set up shop, it was a great booster for the economy, untill everything moved to Taiwan where it has been a source for tremendous economic growth. Now it's the same story all over again, until we move to Laos or somewhere in the Dark Continent in a few decades, or run out of materials and lament all the BSO's we built instead of lasting bikes.
But yes, Germany probably made the best bet. But don't forget the UK, France and Italy had huge car operations as well, but failed due to quality issues and insane union demands. All the other countries entered the automotive age with a vengeance, but the Germans did better than the rest.