From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AB Electrolux
Type	Public (OMX: ELUX B)
Founded	1910
Headquarters	Stockholm, Sweden
Revenue	SEK 129.47 billion / US$ 16.3 billion (2005)
Operating income	SEK 3.94 billion / US$ 496.1 million (2005)
Net income	SEK 1.52 billion / US$ 191.0 million (2005)
Employees	57,000 (2005)
Website	www.electrolux.com

The Electrolux Group is a Swedish corporation which manufactures home appliances and appliances for professional use, selling more than 40 million products to customers in 150 countries every year. Electrolux products include refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and cookers sold under brands such as Electrolux, AEG-Electrolux, Zanussi, Eureka and Frigidaire. Electrolux also makes Kenmore Appliances for Sears Holdings Corporation.

Electrolux has started an overall restructuring program in 2003 around Europe in order to improve their negative signs in their operational results. Factories were closed in Western Europes, new factories started in Eastern Europe - despite strong Union objections. However, the result is still not obvious. In 2006, Electrolux had sales of SEK 104 billion and approx. 57,000 employees. Electrolux has 22 factories in Europe and is the world's second largest appliance manufacturer after Whirlpool Corp. Electrolux held the number one spot prior to the merger of Whirlpool and Maytag in 2006. In 2006, Electrolux spun off its lawn and garden and outdoor products division as Husqvarna AB - known in the USA as Husqvarna Outdoors - in accordance with the restructuring program.

Marcus Wallenberg is the chairman of the board.

Electrolux UK are the official sponsor of Luton Town, of the Football League Championship.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Recent Product Premieres 2 Slogan 3 Trivia 4 Brands 5 External links

Electrolux was founded in 1910 as Elektromekaniska AB, and changed its name to Elektrolux after merging with Lux AB in 1919. (The direct selling division of Electrolux retained the name "Lux", and is now an independent company.[1]) The spelling was changed to Electrolux in 1957.

The company was organized as a holding company in 1928 and grew rapidly during the 1970s under the leadership of Hans Werthén.

In North America, the Electrolux name was long used by a vacuum cleaner manufacturer, founded by a Swedish businessman who emigrated to the U.S. In 1998, that company transferred its rights to the trademark in North America to the Electrolux Group, and now operates under the name Aerus LLC. Following the return of the trademark, Electrolux of Sweden has added a line of Electrolux home appliances in the U.S. and Canada to its previous products.

In 2002 Hans Stråberg was appointed president and CEO.

2000: Premiere of the Screenfridge, an Internet-connected refrigerator designed to be the communications hub for the home as well as keeping track of cold foodstuffs. This concept was developed into an actual product, currently available from the company.

2001: Introduction of the Oxygen vacuum cleaner, equipped with the Electrolux O2 filter system HEPA 13, which provides 99.5% filtration capacity, meaning that the exhaust air is actually cleaner than the air on the North Pole

2002: Launch of the world’s first robot vacuum cleaner, Trilobite

2002: Launch of the world’s first talking washing machine, the Washy Talky, in India

2003: Electrolux supplies household appliances to Terra Nova Bay base on the Antarctic coast. The base is also used as a temporary stock for additional units destined for the inland Concordia base when the local winter season ends in October.

2003: Electrolux introduced the first Design Lab competition for students

2005: Electrolux introduces new colored and patterned appliances.

In the 1960s, the company successfully marketed vacuums in the United Kingdom with the slogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."[2][3][4] British consumers took the slogan literally because "sucks" as a term of disparagement is strictly an Americanism. However, Americans often incorrectly believe that this was a brand blunder, and this is erroneously claimed even in college business textbooks[5]. In fact, the informal US meaning of "sucks" was already well known in the UK at the time, and the company's "marketing people were fully aware of the possible double entendre and intended it to gain attention".[6]

The slogan has been adapted by minicomputer geeks as "Nothing sucks like a VAX", punning on the UK competitor vacuum brand Vax[7].

Electrolux has the distinction of being the brand of vacuum cleaner that Jon Fishman of the legendary band Phish plays while preforming a "vacuum cleaner solo."

• AEG-Electrolux
• Arthur Martin
• Atlas (appliances)
• Beam (central vacuums)
• Castor (appliances)
• Chef
• Corberó
• Dito
• Elektro Helios
• Electrolux
• Electrolux Laundry Systems
• Electrolux Professional
• Eureka (vacuum cleaner)
• Faure (appliances)
• Frigidaire
• Gibson Appliance
• Juno (appliances)
• Kelvinator
• King (kitchen appliances only,sold in Israel)
• Lehel (appliances)
• Marynen/Marijnen
• Molteni
• Parkinson Cowan
• Progress (appliances)
• REX-Electrolux
• Rosenlew
• Simpson
• Tappan
• Therma (appliances)
• Tricity Bendix
• Volta (appliances)
• Voss (appliances)
• Wascator
• Westinghouse
• White-Westinghouse
• Zanussi (and Zanussi Professional)
• Zoppas

Main

• Electrolux Homepage - Official site
• Electrolux USA Homepage
• History of Electrolux

Other

• Electrolux Vacuum Discussion.
• Corberó.
• Global Design Laboratory.
• Aerus LLC - Previous owner of the Electrolux trademark in North America.

Data

• Yahoo! - AB Electrolux Company Profile

v • d • e OMX Stockholm 30 companies of Sweden
ABB · Alfa Laval · Assa Abloy · AstraZeneca · Atlas Copco · Autoliv · Boliden · Electrolux · Eniro · Ericsson · Hennes & Mauritz · Investor AB · Nokia · Nordea · Sandvik · SCA · Scania · SEB · Securitas · Skanska · SKF · SSAB · Svenska Handelsbanken · Swedbank · Swedish Match · Tele2 · TeliaSonera · Volvo · Vostok Gas