Latest publications in journals and newspapers tend to draw a cheerless future for companies producing in Western Europe. This is reason enough to analyze the companies still competing successfully in high cost countries. What kinds of success factors have these companies in common? Based on a benchmarking project, 48 companies have been identified, which, in comparison to their competitors, stand out with a superior development of their market share, sales and margin. Out of these, the four most successful companies have been chosen to gain a better understanding of the success factors of producing in high cost countries.