But consumer-facing brands aren't everything. Germany's industry is famously reliant on "hidden champions": specialist mid-sized companies you've never heard of, producing, say, industrial pumps, chewing-gum wrapping machines, or large curved glass panels.
It’s not sexy and definitely slow. Months where they sell more than 4 machines a month is “crazy busy” for these guys. Granted, each machine takes months to manufacture, but when one machine sells for $25million + millions more in support costs, you don’t have to work very fast to hit big revenue.
But their customers don’t expect fast either.
https://www.forbes.com/lists/best-mid-cap-companies/#66cd8f8...
Here's a list to get a gauge of what's out there
Besides smaug7's point (which the article also makes), mittelstand is a German, not European, phenomenon.