The End of domestic manufacturing in Australia

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

B

brisnat81

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
2,243
Location
Brisbane Australia
Electrolux Australia announced today, that it is closing its South Australian plant and production of all Washers, Dryers and Dishwashers will be moved to South East Asia. No longer will Hoover, Simpson, Westinghouse, Chef, Dishlex or Kelvinator be manufactured in Australia. This will result in a loss of 500 jobs over 2 years, and $35Million AUD has been pledged by the federal govt to support those affected.

Cooking appliances and Fridges will continue to be manufactured in New South Wales plants.

Its the end of Domestic Whitegoods in Australia as we know it.

 
Its happening here too.

The Same B S is going on all over here too. One company buys out another then they both end up (outsourcing ) I hate that word!!!!!!!!!!!! or closing all together
 
Oh No!

That is terrible terrible news. Not in the least because IMHO Simpson/Westinghouse toploaders are the only top loaders I would consider buying/using. What with their lovely long agitator strokes they washed much better without thrashing like DD Whirlpools and without tangling like those gimmicky LG machines. I really despise LG toploaders and now even more so.

I just hope that if they manufacture top loaders somewhere in Asia that they take the current design and make it there. Please not another generic plain impeller machine.

Its awful but I just new this would happen eventually. I thought that there were competition laws in this country. They allowed the Southcorp/Email merger several years ago saying that a monopoly was prevented by Fisher and Paykel's Aust manufacturing but now they are the only ones. :(

THe Hoover nameplate has been gone for a while now. Apparently Electrolux in Australia has no rights to the name. I wonder if it will pop up one something else?
 
The end of an era

That is most disappointing news,however like you Arrrooohhh,I suspected it would happen eventually,so shame on these bloody politicians who allowed this to happen,shame on them all.
I am like you Arrrooohhh,those top loading L.G.,Samsung and the like don't look as though they are worth two bob,although to be honest I am being hypocritical here as I bought a Haier Twintub and not a Simpson or W/house auto but I really wanted a Twintub and Electrolux just don't make them, so my choices were limited to Asian brands i.e. Haier,Hitachi,or the really cheap and nasty looking Centrex, at least Haier give you a full and comprehensive 5 year warranty on the Twintub and several automatics. That being said though Haier's small compact autos don't really look too crash hot either.
Apparently Haier have just released a giant top loader which has a 9kg capacity, direct drive technology and according to my friends at Retravision,also has free delivery,free installation and comes with a 10 year comprehensive warranty which covers parts,call out fees,and labour costs for the repairman.
If this is true then I guess it is a pretty good deal.
Cheers.
Steve.
 
Here it took already place - they are all gone....except MIELE!
Thanx sooo much for this new brave world of globalism!!!
Rubbish instead of quality - wherever you look!!!

Ralf
 
That is sad news for sure.

I think F&P still make washers in Brisbane, don't they? So AU washing machine manufacturing isn't quite dead yet, just in a coma.

I wish they would make front loaders here again. With the water shortage here, FL's are the future, their sales are increasing fast and not one is made locally. Electrolux have so many good front load designs available around the world, I really think the USA Frigidaire FL design with no heater would do well here, but with replaceable bearings. Simple, large load size. The old Hoover Zodiac is the last Aussie made machine I have any sympathy for, all the more recent Simpsons, Hoovers, Westinghouses in my opinion are all pretty junky, though not half as bad as the cheap imported disposable stuff like LG top loaders and all the Chinese stuff.

A sad day.

Chris.
 
Some more information about the closure.

Sad.

Pulsatron, I saw the Haier washing machine you described. It was called double drive. At nearly $1500 it would want to have a ten year warranty! Nice looking machine though.

Another reason (or excuse) used is that the market is turning more too front loaders but as Gizmo said, how hard would it of been to put an exisiting Electrolux design on the Adelaide production line? Yes I think the Frigidaire front loader would of found a huge market.

www.abc.net.au

PM with Samantha Donovan - ABC listen

PM covers stories across Australia and the world, explaining and analysing the most important events and issues of the day.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
 
Were the Simpson machines made by another company, or were they their own brand?

The machine above looks Kenmore-ish to me (maybe the lid that goes off to the side?) For some reason, I see "Simpson" and think Kenmore....
 
The first Simpson was a beam stule "fluid drive' machine. Then they switched to a Maytag design which got changed somewhat with each new generation so that while the agitators look Maytagish they were quite unique.

The model I have pictured is very Maytag.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top