For 20 years I was in truck R&D which became an open test house which I carried on with for another 5 years. One exhaust manufacturer sent us 3 exhaust boxes all had s different thicknesses (in microns) of zinc coating. We had to do salt mist tests on them for 2 weeks then they were inspected. The middle (Bear) was chosen as it would fall outside the warranty period whereas the others were to costly or last too long & the other would have more warranty claims against it. Same with the seat testy I did for wear.Today I recieved wheelbearings from SKF.
Swedish SKF made the box, that said "made in Brazil", inside bearings from German FAG, made in Slovakia.
Protection of your brand name is not that important anymore..
My 52 plate A4 TDI still has the same exhaust on it as the 03 A2.