Kitchen Appliances Information and News

We publish up to date news stories from the world of kitchen appliances. 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.

Like wise in the UK, where 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.

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.

Kitchen appliances have become more technically complex from the control side recently with the introduction of the various Energy labeling rules across the world. This has meant that the appliances have been forced to become more and more efficient leading to more accurate controllers in order to meet the regulations. Major appliances may be roughly divided into refrigeration equipment, stoves or cookers, washing equipment such as dishwashers and washing machines.

Throughout the UK there are over 30 mainstream appliance manufacturers who offer their models for retail to the general public. The largest brands being the Indesit group which also includes the make Hotpoint, and BSH group comprising of Bosch, Neff and Siemens. Most modern appliances are covered by at least 2 years warranty, although there are some offering a more attractive 5 years for both parts and labour. At the budget end of the market are suppliers like Baumatic and CDA, offering great looking and good quality appliances for less than the German brands.

Kitchen Appliances Brand Guide
Information on major manufacturers of kitchen appliances