With an economic downturn across the western nations, with the US and UK being hit the hardest, manufacturers of white goods are feeling the strain of a drop in growth and sales. Whilst the replacement market for appliances is rarely hit by recession, the new kitchen market suffers for being in the luxury category for most families.
Recent bad news from the US includes the news that Whirlpool corporation are to close its manufacturing facilities in LaVergne, TN, U.S. and Reynosa, Mexico.
Production of built-in refrigerators currently manufactured at the LaVergne facility will be moved to the company's Fort Smith, AR facility, and production of side-by-side refrigerators made at Reynosa will shift to Whirlpool's Ramos Arizpe, Mexico site. At LaVergne, approximately 500 jobs will be eliminated, while at Reynosa, an estimated 750 jobs will be affected. The Fort Smith plant expects to add approximately 275 jobs by December, and the Ramos Arizpe facility plans to add an estimated 600 employees by mid-year. http://www.internetkitchenappliances.co.uk/
Like wise in the UK, wher The Electrolux Group has announced that it is to close its loss-making cooker factory in Spennymoor towards the end of next year and consolidate production into an existing cooker plant in Poland. The Spennymoor factory manufactures AEG, Electrolux, and Zanussi cooking appliances - mainly free standing cookers – plus a smaller number of built-in ovens, for the UK and Irish markets and has approximately 500 employees.
“This development, in combination with a shift in consumer preferences from free-standing cookers to built-in cookers, has eroded the competitiveness of our Spennymoor factory. Running a loss-making factory is not sustainable which is why we have decided to consolidate our UK cooker manufacturing into our factory in Swidnica in Poland.” said Magnus Yngen, head of Electrolux Major Appliances Europe. http://www.internetkitchenappliances.co.uk/
The closure of the Electrolux cooking appliance factory at Spennymoor means that cooker production in Britain will be limited to range cooker production plus a handful of niche built-in manufacturers.
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