During a capital markets day in Charlotte, NC, on Nov. 20, CEO Keith McLoughlin and other senior officers provided a status update on the Group’s strategy and an overview of the current business
and environment and expectations for next year.

The Swedish-based appliance maker described its core strategy as being based on four pillars: profitable growth, innovation, operational excellence, and people and leadership. The presentations showed how Electrolux creates sustainable economic value with a continuous flow of product innovations, through modularization and through adapting the Group’s manufacturing footprint and cost structure.

The presentations also included an overview of the current business performance for Electrolux. The company said its operational recovery in Major Appliances EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) is progressing with active product portfolio management and sustainable cost savings.

For Major Appliances North America, the adoption of new energy requirements within refrigeration and freezers has been more complex than anticipated and will continue to have an impact on performance during the final quarter of 2015, and into the first half of 2015.

The performance within Major Appliances Asia Pacific, Latin America and Professional Products continues to be good.

Electrolux expects market demand to be slightly positive, with continued growth in North America and stabilized markets in Europe and in Latin America. Electrolux is expecting a continued slowdown in demand in several markets in Asia/Pacific.

Electrolux expects itself to develop a positive price/mix going into 2015. A negative price trend in Europe should be mitigated by the company’s product mix.

Raw material costs are generally trending down and are expected to have a positive impact year-over-year. The company expects cost savings to be approximately SEK 1 billion (approx. US $133 million) for the full year.

Electrolux continues to step up investments in product development, design, and marketing to support future product launches.

Electrolux is a global leader in home appliances, with numerous brands worldwide, including brands Electrolux, AEG, Zanussi, Frigidaire, and Electrolux Grand Cuisine. It sells more than 50 million products to customers in more than 150 markets every year.

Miele has taken home three recent awards.

The G6582 SCVI Knock2Open Dishwasher received a gold award for ‘Innovation in Sustainability’, while the WKR770WPS ChromeEdition Washing Machine from the W1 collection received a gold accolade for ‘Innovation in Technology’ at the ‘Designer Awards’. The Miele G6582 SCVI Knock2Open Dishwasher was also presented with the gold award for ‘Best White Goods’ at the ‘House Beautiful’ ceremony that took place at the Science Museum in London.

Wolf ovens use columnar vertical blower fans to optimize convection

The new generation of built-in ovens from Wolf Appliance, the M series, is being launched as part of the largest product rollout in the company’s history. 

The series incorporates a redesigned convection system that is used only in M series models and is designed to provide more consistent cooking results. The oven makes use of two columnar vertical blower fans and reconfigured heating elements to produce uniform heat and air flow throughout the oven, minimizing cool spots. The columns of air are also intended to enable improved multi-rack cooking and to reduce preheat times.

Relocated the vertical fans in the back corners

of the oven allow for a curved back wall, creating more usable space within the oven.

The M series has 10 cooking modes, selectable using an LCD touchscreen control panel. The Gourmet mode has a menu of preset options to guide users through the cooking of commonly prepared foods, including temperature and rack placement. With a setting selected, the oven may adjust oven settings throughout the cooking process to provide the best results.

The new ovens are compatible to sync with home-automated control systems like Control4, Crestron, and Savant, giving users the ability to monitor the oven via smartphones and tablets (linked to the control system). 

The series is offered in three design styles: contemporary, transitional and professional, in widths up to 36 inches.

The ovens will be available to consumers in December 2014.

Wolf has been a part of the family-owned appliance maker Sub-Zero, Inc., since 2000. 

Liebherr-Hausgerate GmbH, responsible for the Liebherr Group’s domestic appliances division, has decided to establish its own organisation in the UK, providing sales and service of Liebherr refrigerators and freezers in the future.

Liebherr has come to an arrangement with the current importer, Coolectric, whereby its business activities relating to Liebherr will cease. “We would like to thank Coolectric for their contribution over the years,” says the manufacturer.

From early 2015, Liebherr-Great Britain of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, will assume responsibility for the Liebherr refrigerator and freezer business in the UK. The precise date for the transfer of activities is currently being defined 

Turkish appliance maker Arçelik reported third quarter 2014 revenue of TL 3,234 million (approx. US $1,440 million), up 11.4% from $2,902 million in the third quarter of 2013. Gross profit in 3Q 2014 was reported to be 32.2% of sales, up from 30.9% in 3Q 2013.

In the first nine months of 2014, revenue was TL 9,112 million, (approx. US $4,058 million), up 13.9% from TL 7.998 million in the first nine months of 2013. Gross profit in the first nine months of 2014 was reported to be 32.1% of sales, up from 30.5% in the first nine months of 2013.

Revenue from Arçelik’s White Goods (major appliances) business segment was TL 6,635 million (approx. US $2,995 million) for the first nine months of 2014, up 18.5% from TL 5,597 million in the first nine months of 2013.

Revenue from Arçelik’s Electronics business segment was TL 1,227 million in the first nine months of 2014, up 21.1% from TL 1,054 million in the first nine months of 2013.

Revenue from the company’s Other business segment was TL 1,200 million in the first nine months of 2014.

The company reported that, of the total revenue of TL 9,112 million in the first nine month, TL 3,515 million came from sales inside Turkey, up 1.0% from the first nine months of 2013. TL 5,597 million came from international sales, up 23.9% from the year before.

For full-year 2014, Arçelik’s expects stable or increased market share in key regions. The company expects to see white goods volume in Turkey to be down 0-5%, and white goods volume in International markets to be up more than 6%. The company expects revenue growth for the year to be greater than 10% in Turkish Lira.

The presentation ceremonies of a host of major marketing awards were held at China International Advertising Festival in Guiyang. The event included the China Advertising Great Wall Awards and Effie China Awards.

These awards included:
• “Haier Brothers under Our Pens,” a creative collection of Haier Brothers’ new images, won the Media Marketing Gold Award of 2014 China Advertising Great Wall Awards
• The “First Marketing Case of Haier Water Boxes at Goodaymart” Program won the Marketing Communication Gold Award of 2014 China Advertising Great Wall Awards
• The 2014 Haier World Cup Marketing Program won the Marketing Communication Gold Award of 2014 China Advertising Great Wall Awards
• “New Year Home” Interactive Communication Program of Casarte Brand won the Interactive Marketing Silver Award of 2014 China Advertising Great Wall Awards
• “Hugging Little Light Man” Public Communication Program of Haier Brand won the Creative Gold Award of 2014 Effie China Awards
• “Hugging Little Light Man” Public Communication Program of Haier Brand won the Brand Public Service Bronze Award of 2014 Effie China Awards
• “Stay away from Air-Condition Diseases, Enjoy the Football Night” Program of Haier Tianzun Air Conditions won the Media Innovation Silver Award of 2014 Effie China Awards
• “Stay away from Air-Condition Diseases, Enjoy the Football Night” Program of Haier Tianzun Air Conditions won the Marketing Communication Silver Award of 2014 China Advertising Great Wall Awards
• “Tribute to Original Flavors” Interactive Communication Program of Casarte Refrigerators won the Household Appliance Bronze Award of 2014 Effie China Awa

CNA Group signed on documents for the acquisition of Fagor Electrodomésticos’ plants.

The signing of the documents to formalize the transfer of Fagor production assets to CNA took place in Barcelona with representatives of the signatory banks in attendance. These included Bankia, Caixabank, Banco Popular, Banco Sabadell, and Banco Santander.

CNA has already begun recruitment efforts for staff to re-start Fagor production. Most of those being hired are former Fagor employees. It has already hired 155 workers. CNA said in August that it hopes to bring back 840 jobs over the next four years as it restarts Fagor operations. In the first year the company hopes to hire 434 employees in the Garagarza plant, where it will restart production of laundry appliances, cold appliances, cooking appliances, and dishwashers. Ensuing efforts will focus on restaffing and restarting production in Bergara, Eskoriatza, and Basauri.

Fagor Electrodomésticos, part of Spain’s industrial cooperative MCC, filed for bankruptcy in late 2013. Its French subsidiary, FagorBrandt, was sold to Algerian conglomerate Cevital in June 2014.

The Commercial Court No. 1, San Sebastián, Spain, awarded CNA Group with the assets of appliance maker Fagor Electrodomésticos in August of this year. CNA paid EUR 38.5 million to acquire all Fagor manufacturing lines in the Basque region of Spain. CNA Group said its plan assures the continuity of the well-known appliance brand Fagor, as well as brands Edesa, Aspes, and Splendid.

CNA said it will also provide continuity of technical support and warranty coverage on all the brands’ appliances lines, including cold, laundry, and cooking appliances, small electric housewares, and comfort conditioning appliances.

HOME appliance manufacturer Beko plc has been fined £76,659 plus £11,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching product safety regulations following an investigation and prosecution by Herts County Council’s trading standards.

Yesterday (Monday) at Watford Magistrates Court, the company admitted 23 charges of failing in its obligation to notify an enforcement authority about unsafe gas cookers it had continued to supply some four years after concerns arose that they were not “safe products”.

The Watford-based company had a legal obligation, under Regulation 9 of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, to notify Herts trading standards about any unsafe product where there is a serious risk posed, which it admitted it failed to do.

The court heard that in February 2009, Beko plc became aware of a safety concern around 23 different models of double cavity gas cookers with a separate grill capable of conversion for liquid petroleum gas (LPG). If converted, using one of Beko’s own conversion kits, and if the grill was switched on and the grill door was closed albeit contrary to instructions, there was a risk of a converted cooker releasing carbon monoxide, which can be fatal in high doses. The company only gave formal notification to Herts trading standards in relation to the LPG conversion issues in August 2013.

In mitigation, Beko expressed regret that they did not notify the department and said it was a genuine oversight on part of the company. The prosecution stated that the company had a legal duty to notify, rather than a “preference” and the company breached its legal duty

LG Electronics (LG) announced that it has sold more than twenty million units of its washing machines globally in the past five years, a remarkable accomplishment for a home appliance, demonstrating the company’s technological leadership in the washing machine market. At the heart of this achievement is LG’s innovative 6 Motion Direct Drive technology which offers users powerful yet delicate washing results similar to those of a real hand wash.
 
LG’s 6 Motion Direct Drive technology was first incorporated into the company’s front-load washing machines in October 2009, followed by top-load washers in January 2010. In October 2013, LG recorded 10 million in sales of its 6 Motion Direct Drive washing machines and 20 million units by early this month. With one LG washer finding a home somewhere in the world every 8 seconds, it’s no wonder LG washing machines have become the industry standard in significant markets such as the United States, Russia, China and even in Korea where there is no dearth of strong competitors. To maintain its industry leadership, LG has filed approximately 150 patent applications in several key countries for its 6 Motion Direct Drive technology.
 
The popularity of 6 Motion Direct Drive technology is in the six different washing motions — Tumbling, Scrubbing, Filtration, Rolling, Stepping, Swing — that individually or in combination provide powerful washing results. LG washing machines also offer optimized washing programs for a diverse range of fabrics. In addition to enhancing fabric care, the delicate motions cause fewer wrinkles and less damage. The washing machines are powered by LG’s advanced Inverter Direct Drive motor which is backed by the reliability of 10 year warranty.
 
The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) has recognized LG’s 6 Motion Direct Drive technology by awarding it their Green Technology certification for its contribution to reducing greenhouse gases. This year alone, LG’s 6 Motion Direct Drive washing machines have received accolades and recognition from consumer-based organizations in nations around the world, including Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia and the United States. But rather than resting on the laurels of its 6 Motion Direct Drive, LG continues to introduce a variety of new technologies that to this day bring significant time and energy savings to consumers. For example, LG’s revolutionary TurboWash™ feature enables washing cycles to finish in 59 minutes1 and also reduce energy consumption by up to 15 percent and water consumption by up to 40 percent.2
 
“Since day one, LG has focused solely on developing innovative technologies that benefit consumers first and foremost,” said Chris Yi, executive vice president, LG Electronics Home Appliance Company. “The 6 Motion Direct Drive technology is a result of that philosophy and tradition at LG. When you build the products that customers want and take care of them throughout the lifecycle of the product, your market share will be a reflection of their satisfaction.”