GE sale to Haier complete

[lordkenmore]

>It occurs to me the problem the government had with Electrolux buying GE's appliance division is that Electrolux had already gobbled up Frigidaire. I guess when it comes to international mergers you only get to choose one item from each column.

It may not be "one item from each column" as such. But Electrolux would have had a large chunk of the appliance market.

Indeed, I don't think WP should have been allowed to buy Maytag for this reason.

Customers would certainly have lost choices with Electrolux--Electrolux would have presumably have moved to 1 basic design for a given appliance that would be sold under all Electrolux names. Just like a Maytag is little more than a renamed Whirlpool. So...customers could choose between, say, a GE and Frigidaire DW, but they'd really have been the same appliance.

Although I will say that at least Electrolux has experience with higher market levels than Haier does. Given the current state of GE, even some builder's grade Frigidaire appliances might be better.

 

[circlew]

The rental house I'm in had to have a new refrigerator to replace the approx. 12yr. old GE that had started to make a loud noise. A new GE 18 cu.ft. top-freezer model from Lowes arrived on Memorial Day morning. I looked at the tag, and it says that it was assembled in USA. It actually appears to be better made than the old one.

 

[washman]

gansky1 is right folks

And I don't like it either but at the end of the day, what can a person do?

Not one nation has a lock on design, engineering or manufacturing these days.

Shareholders want their ROI and stock buybacks.

Customers want it as cheap as possible.

You're a CEO whose business is driven 100% by the above two entities.

What do you do?

Make it "here" and pay US wages, benefits, comply with gov't regulations and hope and pray that there are enough blue blood patriots out there willing to pay the higher price?

Or you saddle up with the rest of the corporate shitters, offshore it to someplace you can't pronounce must less find on a map and make sure it has shelf space in a BIG BOX.

By and large, the average dimwit does not care where, how, or by whom something is made, just so long as it is cheaper than what his buddy paid for it.

Simple as that.

Ugly but true.

 

[turquoisedude]

Sad but true...

I second the above.  We the consumers are to blame for demanding a $100 washer or dishwasher that doesn't last a year.  On the other hand, if everyone had the 'WAIT, I can fix this' attitude toward appliances and other household goods like I think I have, the economy would have ground to a halt in 1993...  

 

[joeypete]

I hated to see this happen with all my heart, but like others said, not much you can do. Things change even if we don't like it.

However I won't boycott any GE products as they are still made by American workers, most of whom have been at Appliance Park for years. It's not their fault so I see no need to buy other products just because their parent company is not American.

They seem committed to keeping the brand strong and that makes me happy.

 

[mrb627]

Haier & Fisher Paykel

Doesn't Haier own Fisher and Paykel? How has that gone for F&P? Maybe we will see F&P design elements built into the next line of GE machines? That wouldn't be so bad in my opinion...

Just sayin...

Malcolm

 

[joeypete]

Yes Malcolm, I was going to mention that in my post too! From what I understand, quality actually increased after Haier bought F&P.

 

[vacerator]

Good

that if China is committed to US companies. After all, it is US who have helped China recover form their failed communist experiment.
When the 90 percent only have the right to be poor, it never has a good end result.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE shame!

GE should be ashamed of themselves! Now quality is gonna get worse as far as build quality is concerned!

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Shame?

The shame should have happened back in the 1980s when GE's appliance division fell apart.

 

GE appliance quality couldn't have possibly been any worse than it was back when Haier bought them out 5 years ago.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

laundry line

Let's not forget the filter-flo line being discontinued. I will NEVER forget that. EVER!

 

[yogitunes]

I thought the delay in talking with the guys on the moon was long, imagine what is must be coming from Uranus!

 

[kenwashesmonday]

The Filter-Flo washers certainly wash up a storm, but they drank water and ate transmissions. If they continued to build them today they'd be a laughing stock.

The old GE didn't take care of their service techs, and their parts prices to consumers were about the highest in the industry. Who wants to pay $95 for an evaporator fan motor imported form Singapore? That was the GE's price back in 1987.

 

[mattl]

The simple truth is 95% of older appliance failed and are gone now, the remaining units are the cream of the crop, built well with well machined parts.

 

The quality of today's machines could be better but people today are always chasing newer and better.  A 15 or 20 yo machine does not have the cache of "new" or current models. With that mentality why build better?  True, marketing played a big part in that attitude but also improvements in performance play a part. I just replaced a 3 yo tol 4k LCD tv with a much better 4k OLED and it was worth every penny. Performance was the motivator for me.

 

[iej]

I think you also have to remember the price differential between say 1950s appliances and modern ones. The run of the mill washing machines sold in that era were seriously expensive relative to income. We often forget that when we talk about them.

You could be comparing something like a middle of the range, highly affordable washing machine or dryer to something that would have been a huge outlay for most households back in the day.

There was a time when those kinds of household appliances were serious pieces of durable goods and they came with a price tag that would make you wince.

Many of them, especially those that are still surviving as collectors items were probably very, very well built.

What we forget though is that if it haven’t been for manufacturing technologies, automation, plastics and standardised parts, cheaper materials and absolutely extreme efficiency, they’d simply never have become a product that absolutely every household has. Instead, they’d be priced like Miele or commercial machines and you would be seeing them more like buying a small car than just a simple appliance.

A lot of our huge steps up in access to technology are down to that. Machines that were almost hand built using extremely expensive materials, custom designed parts and so on are very nice, but they’re not very likely to ever be what drives mass market consumer appliances, and that’s the magic that put tech in our laundry rooms, kitchens and homes generally.

 

[mattl]

Valid points.  The '59 Frigidaire Custom Imperial range my folks bought new was about $700 then.  It's built like a tank, would be quite a challenge getting it out of the basement where it resides now.  Still works with a few issues that I have parts to repair but it's not my daily driver so no great need to do it.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I'm almost at the point that if I'm ever able to build a house, I'd almost want older appliances rather than new ones. Sure, I admit the new ones look nice with their electronic controls, LED lighting, etc. And the trim bits and how they fit together has gotten really slick.

But I just question will they actually last as long as older ones, or will the already old, older models still outlast the new ones? To me there's something about the simplicity of older appliances that to me at least, puts them ahead of new ones. Particularly when we're talking about yesterday's high end models.

Really, I'd love to have a houseful of TOL appliances from the 90s. Even then, they just had features that you don't see on new appliances. Things like lighted consoles, etc. Just the little oddities and niceties I find lacking in the ones today.

I've told people before that I'd rather have older appliances than new ones, and I'm always met with confusion. "But why, they're just old?" People just don't appreciate the little things as well as the longevity of older, and antique appliances, like we do, I don't think. To most people, they're just old appliances, outdated, and needing to be disposed of. Whether they still work or how long they'll continue to work, people aren't interested in.

I suppose this goes along with my preferences in clothing, and propensity for going to thrift stores as well. My style always seems to be at least a decade behind what's trendy. LOL

 

[bradfordwhite]

"High quality" or "quality built" is subjective, generational, and even determined by the socioeconomic cohort that a person is in.

I remember when Maytag, Kitchen Aid, Reed & Barton, Mercedes, BMW, Lincoln, a French Tudor home, and traditional colonial furniture was "top of the line" and "high quality". And people would pay top dollar for them.
Now, not but a few decades later, you can find many of those brands or styles of "the past" for free or for very little money.

Personally, I won't spend a dime on the ugly gray particle board that's passing for furniture these days.

 

[bradfordwhite]

#35

I hear you Cole.

The only NEW clothes I buy are things like underwear, socks, sweats, and the new stretchy disposable shoes they make for $12.

When it comes to pants and shirts I find lots of things at thrift stores for $3-$5 each.

Same goes for linens. Sheets, curtain panels, blankets. You can buy stuff that's all cotton for like $1-$4 each. Compare that to $50-$150 new.

The shopping environment is often more pleasant compared to the merely business environment of Walmart.

 

[tjb]

One more fine American-owned company gone, just like the now Japanese-owned and now poorly named "American Standard".