Yeah, it is sad that too many brands are being badge engineered instead of having their own solutions to washing and drying. Ultimately this may come back and bite WP if they become bogged down in spending time and money on too many nameplates and dealer lines and not enough on new development and quality. That said, WP has for the most part produced reliable products that wash well so maybe they'll do OK. I'd be happy to see them just retire the surplus brands.
I think the term "badge engineering" comes from the '60s when most British car companies managed to merge together in one ill-fated mass called British Leyland. Some cars were marketed under the nameplates of Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley, MG, and Van den Plas with only minor changes to the grilles, engines and interiors . . . Jaguar, Rover, and Truimph were eventually caught up in BL as well. BL thought they had really nearly eliminated competition by saturating most markets with almost identical products supposedly appealing to different people. Meanwhile, the rest of the world moved ahead and saw though the charade and it all sank in a very expensive mess, leaving only Jaguar, Mini, and MG, none of them British owned, as remnants of a once-pround industry . . . and MG is on life-support by the Chinese anyway. If WP were to screw up like BL did then the outcome would likely be similar, in that it could be bought by foreign interests and leave only niche guys like Speed Queen representing classic American laundry products.
Question for you guys: I know Frigidaire is owned by Electrolux, but what about GE? Electrolux as well, or out on their own?
