Founded in 1910, Electrolux products are sold under a variety of brand names (including its own), and are primarilymajor appliances andvacuum cleaners intended for home consumer use.[6]
The Elektromekaniska company was founded in Stockholm on 19 January 1910 by engineer Sven Carlstedt (1847-1924), as a manufacturer of universal motors for vacuum cleaners, designed by him together with Eberhardt Seger.[7]
In 1912, Carlstedt met Axel Wenner-Gren (1881-1961), a salesman, who proposed that he start a collaboration with Lux, a company producing kerosene lamps for outdoor use founded in 1901, whose owner was Carl G. Lindblom.
Carlsted and Lindblom, convinced by Wenner-Gren, started an important collaboration between their companies: Lux specialized in the production of vacuum cleaners under license from the American Keller Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia (producer of the Santo vacuum cleaners), on which the motors produced by Elektromekaniska were mounted.
In 1915, Wenner-Gren founded Svenska Elektron, with which he was able to market his vacuum cleaner model under the Elektron brand, produced on commission by another company, which recorded a significant commercial success.
The following year, in 1916, Svenska Elektron acquired the majority of shares in Elektromekaniska, of which Wenner-Gren took over the management, and two years later, in 1918, it acquired significant shares in Lux.[7]
On August 29, 1919, the company name of Elektromekaniska was officially changed to Elektrolux,[8] of which Wenner-Gren was the majority shareholder and president. The new name assigned to the company was in fact the combination of the previous name and that of Lux, for which it carried out commercial distribution abroad.
While Electrolux had bought several companies before the 1960s, that decade saw the beginnings of a new wave of M&A activity. The company bought ElektroHelios, Norwegian Elektra, Danish Atlas, Finnish Slev, and Flymo, et al., in the nine years from 1960 to 1969.[15] It sold its American subsidiary toConsolidated Foods and exited the American market in 1968, only returning in 1974 when Electrolux acquiredEureka-Williams fromNational Union, one of the oldest names in the vacuum cleaner industry. Electrolux sold its vacuum cleaners using the Eureka brand name in North America until 2004.[17]
This style of growth continued through the 1990s, seeing Electrolux purchase scores[18] of companies including, for a time,Husqvarna.[18][19]
Hans Werthén [sv], President and later chairman of the board, led the strategic core of an increasingly decentralized Electrolux—and was instrumental to its rapid growth.
While attempts to cut costs, centralise administration, and wring outeconomies of scale from Electrolux's operations were made in the 1960s and 1970s[15][18] with the focus so firmly on growth,[18] further company-wide restructuring efforts only began in the late 1990s.[20]
In North America, the Electrolux name was long used byvacuum cleaner manufacturerAerus, originally established to sell Swedish Electrolux products. In 2000, Aerus transferred trademark rights back to the Electrolux Group, and ceased using the Electrolux name in 2004.[21]
Conversely, Electrolux-made vacuums carried the Eurekabrand name, which Electrolux continued to use while also selling Electrolux branded vacuums after 2000. Electrolux USA customer service maintains a database of Electrolux made vacuums and provides a link to Aerus's website for the convenience of owners of Electrolux branded Aerus vacuums.[22]
Keith McLoughlin took over as president and CEO on 1 January 2011, and became the company's first non Swedish chief executive.
In August 2011, Electrolux acquired fromSigdo Koppers the Chilean appliance manufacturer CTI obtaining several brands with the purchase including: Fensa, Gafa, Mademsa and Somela.[23]
On 6 February 2017, Electrolux announced that it had agreed to acquireAnova Applied Electronics,[24] the U.S.-based provider of the Anova Precision Cooker.[25][26]
On 23 March 2020, Electrolux completed thespin-off of its professional division, which the separated company incorporated asElectrolux Professional.[27]
In September 2023, it was announced Electrolux has sold its refrigerator manufacturing facility inNyíregyháza to theMalmö-headquartered heat pump systems and technology company, Qvantum for €38 million.[28]
Electrolux sells under a wide variety of brand names worldwide. Most of them were acquired throughmergers and acquisitions and only do business in a single country or geographic area.The following is an incomplete list.
Gibson, refrigerator and air conditioning manufacturer[34]
Mademsa, Chilean home appliance brand
Philco, former U.S. consumer electronics and appliance manufacturer for appliances, though the brand name is also used separately for electronics byPhilips
Dishlex, a budget-friendly dishwasher brand sold in Australia (discontinued in August 2021)[50]
Kelvinator, an air conditioning and fridge freezer brand sold in Australia, India and elsewhere[51]
Simpson, previously sold Kitchen and laundry appliances, now they only sell laundry appliances. They are a brand sold in Australia and New Zealand. (discontinued in July 2022)[52]
Westinghouse, a kitchen and laundry appliance brand in Australia.[53]
Tornado, vacuum cleaners and other consumer products[59]
Therma
Tricity Bendix
Volta, vacuum cleaner brand sold in Australia, Sweden and elsewhere[60]
This list does not include brands such asKenmore,IKEA, andJohn Lewis, which may sell Electrolux produced appliances but are not owned by or affiliated with Electrolux, as Electrolux acts as anOEM for these brands.
The company's international slogan is "Shape living for the better". In the past it was "Thinking of you".[61]
In the 1960s, the company successfully marketed vacuums in theUnited Kingdom (UK) with theslogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux".[62] In the United States, it was often assumed that this slogan was abrand blunder, but the informal American meaning of the word "sucks" was already well known in the UK, and the company selected it deliberately in the hopes that the slogan, with itsdouble entendre, would gain attention.[63]
In Indonesia, the Electrolux previous slogan was "Kalau saja semua seawet Electrolux" (English: If only all are as durable as Electrolux).[citation needed]
^"Rosenlew".Brand. Electrolux Group. Archived fromthe original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved31 August 2010.
^David Turnock, Edward Elgar, 2009,The Transition from Communism to the European Union: Restructuring Romanian Industry and Agriculture Since 1990, p. 141
134.880 billionkr (2022)[3]
–215 million kr (2022)[3]
