GE in Talks With Suitors to Sell Iconic Appliances Business

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Head of GE Said Sometime Ago That GE Was Going To

Spin off "non-essential" parts of it's business to concentrate on core and revenue producing sectors.

GE Credit IIRC is also soon or has been placed on the selling block.

General Electric for whatever greatness it once held in appliances (including Hotpoint) IMHO hasn't really concentrated on that line in years. They make their money in aerospace (jet engines), locomotives and a whole host of other businesses.

Would be great if someone who really cares about domestic appliances picked up that GE division and tried to make something of it again. Think of all the patents and famous brands (again such as Hotpoint) GE holds.
 
i would not be suprise that ge will be bough by whirlpool

I would not be suprise that the ones buying ge will be none other than whirlpool and you know what this m,ean they will change the washer dryerline to look like they did when they bough maytag sigh sorry its just a feeling i have and its strange but i hope that if ge appliance is indeed put on sale if there is a washer god now the time to pray that the ones buying ge appliance is none other than speed queen would you rather have ge washer dryers looking like this same fate as maytag or like a speed queen washer dryer (hubesch in canada) i other word like picture one whirlpool look or like picture 2 speedqueen look?

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Not this again...

GE threatened to sell off the appliance business some years ago - but then did a splendid job of restoring their appliance presence with innovative product - as well as restoring Appliance Park in the process.
I said it before and I'll say it again, if GE sells the appliance unit to some junky foreign manufacturer - it'll be the LAST GE appliance I will buy.
 
I see two things

either to Haier or LG/Samsung OR to an fill-in-the-blank capital group.

Whirlpool, I can't see that happening on anti-trust grounds.

Seems the investment in USA based production was but a smoke screen to gussy it up for sale to the right bidder. Neutron Jack did this to the small appliance division years ago, hence B&D coffemakers in our kitchens.

While I support business in general and only a profitable concern can hire people and generate wealth, when it comes to screwing around like this to make a bunch of pencil pushing accountants dance a jig over the stock price, I part company.

This is a perfect example (along with Wall Street in general) of WHY we just can't seem to make stuff here anymore. It has nothing to do with unions, wages, lack of plant capacity or anything (save for asinine goobermint regulations).

When a company is a slave to wall street, it generally screws over main street. When a CEO pay package is in large part dependent on the price per share, the trailing earnings, yadda yadda, a particular division can be indeed profitable but if it makes more money overall by being sold (and ultimately gutted), then so be it.

The outcome, well we've already witnessed it.
Exhibit A. Anheuser-Busch sold to Inbev. Cost cutting, layoffs, etc. And still a piss poor offering of beer.
Exhibit B. The disastrous Chrysler Daimler "merger of equals". Chryco parts division sold off to Metaldyne and others. Cost cuts, wage cuts, etc.
Exhibit C. Useless Airways and American. Talk about putting two losers together to make one bigger loser, this is it. Naturally upper management is well taken care of. The rest of us will have to suck wind.

Bottom line, the less competition in the marketplace means we consumers lose. Big time. Look at the cell phone business. The airlines are another example.

In other words, business as usual in America.
 
Ye Gods No!

Really hope this isn't Haier that is prospecting this purchase. And while the world of appliances hasn't caved in since Haier bought F&P, longterm I fear greatly for their innovative products. 

 

If they made good appliances, this wouldn't have to happen. Hopefully something good might come of it.
 
Tough call

We all know GE is in bed with Electrolux to some degree. I wouldn't have a stroke if Electrolux came to the rescue.
Whirlpool probably cannot buy everybody.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Perhaps the appliance division could be run as it's own self-sustaining enterprise? Dunno.
 
GE To Sell Its Appliance Division

This is not surprising as GE really has only had any real superiority in cooking appliances for a long time now. They might as well written off laundry appliances in 1994, and they refrigerators since 2001 have been plagued with problems also.

It will not be sold to Whirlpool or Electrolux, I would guess that Haier would be most likely with LG and Samsung coming in 2nd and 3rd.I would prefer to see Haier get it as it would keep more US workers in there current jobs in US plants. In retrospect I wish that WP had not bought MT and it had instead gone to Haier, as the accusation of MT has not helped WP be as competitive as they should be in the US market.
 
Ugh!!  GE is the only "modern" stove I was going to consider.  And Eugene, I thought of you immediately and you posted just about word for word I expected you to post when I saw the headlines/thread title. 
 
Geotherm

IIRC, GE got a nice chunk of change in tax breaks  when they agreed to mfr. the "Geotherm" water heater in the USA instead of outsourcing it.  When it looks and smells like corporate welfare it usually is.

ALR
 
Midea and Haier are likely suitors

 

LG and Samsung already have well established brands in the US and globally but some of the lesser known foreign companies will certainly get hot and bothered to grab some instant name recognition.  GE has been sourcing laundry products and many components from Little Swan/Midea (China) for a long time so a chance to grab GE's market share would be a huge win for a concern like them.

 

It certainly will be an interesting show to watch and the outcome will be even more so.

 

Watch carefully, the Kenmore brand name will be next on the block!
 
Kenmore

Seeing as how brands are spread so thickly among single manufacturers--recalling the days of Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac-Oldsmobile-Cadillac-Saturn-Saab-GMC-Hummer, it makes me wonder if we're going to see a winnowing effect, where the strongest brands persist as the more ancillary ones bow out. Whirlpool seems to be positioning Maytag more aggressively while other brands that never made much sense in their portfolio anyway (Jenn Air, Admiral) seem directionless by comparison.

Since Kenmore has worked so hard to divorce themselves from consistent suppliers and even consistent sales venues, I wonder how relevant they really are--any more than anyone would have clamored for the Signature marque after the demise of Ward's.

GE, on the other hand, seems to be pulling a Frigidaire--making some really great products you'd actually want to buy, just before fading into the sunset.
 

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