GE to auction appliance unit

[frigilux]

I'm with Supersuds; I'll bet Haier or some other Chinese company trying to make a big splash in the US will buy it.

The process worked out well for Electrolux in this country. They've got the Frigidaire line and now their own upscale Electrolux line over here.

 

[jeffg]

Stevet, I don't know if that's funny or just weird. Do you live in a small town? At least in Los Angeles, the only time neighbors put an empty appliance box on their curb is when they doesn't have access to a box cutter. I can't even imagine someone going around reading the boxes and thinking, "Boy am I jealous."

 

[hydralique]

I just bought a new GE microwave . . .

to replace a Panasonic less than four years old. The Panasonic fritzed in a strange way: it would turn off normally, but then when you opened the door to reach for your food it would turn back on . . . not a good thing. I'd already replaced a door spring when it was barely a year old, so I was determined to avoid another Panasonic. The GE looked good, had the features I needed and hey, it wasn't a Panasonic. Got it home, plugged it in, and discovered that the control panel lit up really nicely but that's all it would do. After messing with it for 20 minutes and reading the instructions, I boxed it back up and took it back to the store. Exchanging it for another brand was going to be a much bigger hassle than getting a second GE, and besides the only other one I liked was an LG, so I got an exact replacement. So far it work fine, but to say I was annoyed and disappointed is an understatement. It was made in China, goodness knows by who . . . Haier perhaps? Anyway I feel sorry for the guys in Appliance Park, but I think they were being cut out of the picture even under GE ownership.

I miss my old Radarange!

 

[joeekaitis]

''South of the border, down Mexico way . . ."

Just about all of GE's stoves are made in Mexico by a company called Mabe, who also owns GE's Canadian appliance division. Can't rule them out as a possible customer for the rest of white goods line.

Visit www.geappliances.ca and scroll down to the copyright notice. Mabe's multi-lingual corporate website is at www.mabe.cc

http://www.geappliances.ca/

 

[j2400]

I'm not sure I'd totally rule out Whirlpool buying GE. I know that there was anti-trust talk when they bought out Maytag. But, it seems likely that they might be able to get away with it. I'm not sure that anti-trust action really takes place any more. Not after viewing that Microsoft anti-trust case a few years ago.

As for appliances, it could be argued that even if there was only ONE US company left, there would still be competition for foreign companies. It can also be argued that one large company has economies of size that can make it more competitive.

I, myself, hope Whirlpool doesn't buy out GE. Although, I hoped that with Maytag, as I recall, but found that to be a better alternative than some that were suggested.

Overall, I suspect that the GE appliance division could end up owned by a Chinese company. As I recall, one company (Haier, I think) was considered a likely buyer for GE. If I had to guess, I think this would be my best guess of what could happen.

I have to wonder how well it would work having GE owned by a European company. It could be a great thing. But it could also end up being another Daimler-Chrysler disaster.

 

[westyslantfront]

My bet is on Haier. After they were unsuccessful in acquiring
Maytag, perhaps they will succeed in acquiring GE.

Ross

 

[48bencix]

Engineering

Some of their products were pretty well engineered. Move above bol and you get some of the better cooking appliances. Refrigerators and other products hold up pretty well too. Who ever buys it will just add the GE sticker to their products. No one will keep the American factory. Too bad. We should enjoy paying more for USA made stuff. But much of what you need on a daily basis is not made here, even if you try.

 

[iheartmaytag]

My bet is Haier

They were the top bidder for Maytag when Whirl-crap bought out their option. They are wanting a strong foothold in the American market.

 

[paulg]

Dismayed.

I am dismayed by the news. My father worked for the Hotpoint division of GE for nearly 40 years. All of us kids grew up, went to school, ate well by the appliance market.
Should a foreigner get the brand, all the new owner is likely to do is turn GE into a 2 cent stick-on label on some inferior product that probably is using lead paint and 900 gauge wiring. (Honestly, what is left of Zenith after LG took over? They cored it out to a shell IMHO.)
In spite of this I understand the likely inevitability of it all as Westinghouse, Frigidaire, Kelvinator were all once owned by huge American companies that had interests beside appliances. I just wish GE would have instead inspired the globe by using their vast knowledge to engineer fine products that are futuristic and efficient rather than just mercilessly dump the entire operation. All those (assumed) lost jobs really bother me. I grew up on GE - what are tomorrow's kids gonna do for clothes and food? The job constructing a dishwasher in Kentucky may be now being done in some poorly-monitored sweatshop in China? Yuck.

 

[launderess]

Haier Was Put Off

By rumbling in Congress and other areas of the United States about China taking control of an American company. Considering the value of the yuan to the dollar then and now, buying GE Appliances would be a snip for China, something that adds to the furore over current valuations of the yuan vs the USD.

General Electric really hasn't had it's heart in appliances for awhile now, IMHO. Yes they do have a few good lines here and there, but for ages they have been known for BOL and builder's models that even cheap imports beat with quality at times.

 

[gansky1]

Fire sale at GE

I, too, would place a dollar bet (worth thirty cents) on LG, Haier or another Asian brand grabbing up the rights to the GE name pretty fast. I would bet we'll see the end of this saga before the end of the year - you couldn't ask for a more favorable environment with the current administration for acquisitions and mergers.

 

[launderess]

When it comes down to it politics and politicans have only about so much leverage. Unless they can stimulate demand for one particular brand, or lower production costs, what else is there?

Endless talking about saving Amercian manufacturing jobs is just that. The world has changed and the United States cannot go around wagging it's finger at other countries crying "protection" and "open your markets", while doing the exact same thing at home.

The sale of GE Appliance caps off a long litany of famous appliance brand names from Frigidaire to Norge that were cast off. Companies are ruled by share price, that is all that matters, and today instead of gobbling up every thing in sight, Wall Street wants to see results or the stock gets hammered. When an economic down turn hits, dead weight has to go, hence what we are seeing with GE.

 

[supersuds]

A couple more interesting tidbits from the Louisville paper:

"Potential buyers of General Electric’s Appliance Division could include Electrolux, Haier, LG Electronics, Samsung and Bosch – netting as much as $6.5 billion, Wall Street analysts predicted today.

"Such buyers would crave the GE name and its massive manufacturing and distribution network. But there is also good reason to keep the appliance factory and white collar staff viable in Louisville, said Nicholas P. Heymann, of Sterne Agee in New York.

“Union workers in Louisville are making Monogram products. There is a 30 percent margin on that business. That is where a lot of the money is made,” Heymann said of GE’s high end Monogram brand.

"With 2,500 members of IUE/CWA Local 761 employed at Appliance Park, GE manufactures Monogram dishwashers, and lower end GE washing machines and top-freezer refrigerators, company spokeswoman Kim Freeman said. Appliance Park workers also make Profile dishwashers, the company’s mid-range brand."

There's also an Appliance Park Timeline at this link. Ground was broken in 1951. I think before that GE's refrigerators were made in Cleveland, or was it New York State?

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/BUSINESS/80515019

 

[liberator1509]

Maybe Indesit will try to buy them out

GE had a substantial holding in GDA (the post GEC owner of Hotpoint and associated brands in the UK). Indesit (or Merloni Elettrodomestici as it was known at the time) bought out GDA's holding (about 50%), and have purchased more since. Indesit is now a very large company, second in Europe after the all-consuming Electrolux. GDA marketed their Hotpoint washers as GE in overseas markets in recent years.

Indesit has global ambitions, and in spite of closing former Hotpoint facilities in the UK (basically because it is not a cheap manufacturing country anymore), I would be surprised if they didn't bid - if only to get hold of the Hotpoint brand on a global level. I mentioned this before when Indesit announced the merging of the Ariston and Hotpoint brands in Europe - it would make sense for them to have hold of it worldwide.

 

[supersuds]

That's an interesting point about having control of Hotpoint worldwide. GE has done nothing to promote it in North America for years and I wonder how much value it has as a brand name any more, at least in the U.S.

Latest from the Wall Street Journal on a possible buyer is that LG Electronics is "looking into it very carefully," a direct quote form LG's chief executive.

The Journal notes that "Though GE is one of the pioneers in home appliances and a well-known brand in the U.S., LG operates on a bigger scale world-wide. Last year, LG sold $11.5 billion of appliances, compared with GE's $7.2 billion."

 

[paulg]

Quality fade.

Watch out if a Chinese/Korean buys GE Appliances. For a while the quality will seem good - if not better. Then comes the quality fade and you'll see the tubing rotting out in a few years like most foreign largely-garbage dehumidifiers. I'd rather replace the compressor in my 1954 CROSLEY a thousand times over than buy an overpriced rebadged Korean fridge.
Yes, you cannot stop the global manufacturing climate nowadays but I don't like purchasing product that has virtually absent service or high mortality within ten years.
My rule of thumb: It is not what you get for the money with most Chinese/Korean manufacturers - it is what you DON'T get....