End of the (Andrews) Road
By the early 1980s, all of Hohner was in crisis. It had not made inroads into the new mainstream guitar / drum / keyboard / amp market, and there was no way that selling cheap harmonicas to Cub Scouts would ever pay off its debt. Every day Hohner sank further into the red.
M. Hohner, Inc. was put into the hands of an American executive, who tried to plug whatever leaks he could. By 1983, he had moved the U.S. operation to Richmond, Virginia, where labor costs were cheaper, as were the costs associated with importing shipments from Europe. He ultimately left and was replaced, not that it mattered very much - the cash flow of the parent corporation mattered far more.
By the 1990s, all of Hohner was acquired by a private investor, who in turn sold it to a conglomerate. It had the resources to pay off all of Hohner's debts. It then transferred production of the inexpensive harmonicas models, especially those meant for children, to Taiwan, which permitted the German operation to downsize, and focus on high-quality instruments for professionals. The new, smaller Hohner concentrated on making harmonicas and accordions, as the old Hohner had, and it became profitable. Although the Hicksville part of the story is all but forgotten, Hohner survives.
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