Advice
We are often asked for advice when purchasing new domestic appliances so we have compiled the following for your information:
Electrolux & Whirlpool are probably the world’s largest producers of whitegoods.
AEG is no longer German, Zanussi & Bendix are no longer Italian, Tricity and Parkinson Cowan are no longer British. They’re all Swedish.
Hoover, once a great British brand name haven’t been British since the mid 80′s when Maytag bought them out and later selling to Candy who are Italian. So now almost all Hoover machines have Candy internal components. You are not buying British when buying Candy
Hotpoint, Creda & Cannon are all now owned by Indisit who are also Italian.
Antonio Merloni, Servis UK and Domar have many guises and were all part of Europe’s third-party supplier of appliances. are a has ceased to trade
Servis UK, Domar, many guises as this is Europe’s largest third-party supplier of appliances. Antonio Merloni has ceased to trade as has Service UK since late 2008.
All the same company and also own Viva which is really Balay from what we can see, for the UK. They also own the Gaggenau and Thermador brands as well as (we think) the old Imperial brand from Germany.
And don’t be fooled by some salesperson telling you that “this is really made by Bosch as, with the exception of the odd integrated dishwasher, we’ve yet to see a Bosch, Neff or Siemens used on any other brand. Also bear in mind that Viva and the lower end (cheaper) Bosch is most often from the Balay plant in Spain and is not made in Germany. Look for the “Made In Germany” ticket if you want a real German appliance.
Necht, Nardi, Gorenje etc. are NOT Bosch appliances!
Fagor, Brandt, De Dietrech, Ocean, Sauter, many more as also a third-party supplier, like MFI. They have been known to buy in product from Electrolux and others as well.
De Dietrich, whilst billed as an upmarket brand is so solely on style, many components are shared across the brands in the group (as is the case with the rest on this page) and they have been buying in integrated washers from Electrolux.
Stoves, Belling, New World and LEC also a third party supplier to MFI and others. Many of the products are the same, with a different facia or styling or they share common components.
Whirlpool, Ignis, Bauknecht and Maytag third party supplier particularly integrated refrigeration products. Whirlpool bought Maytag in 2006 so expect a rationalisation of products with more component and platform sharing, it is said that Maytag is to become the “upmarket” brand out the group.
Teka Group:
A lot of people go looking for Teka and Kuppersbusch which are one and the same but they buy in dishwashers and many laundry products. Recently a lot of the cheap dishwashers appear to be cheap Haier or Midea Chinese manufactured appliances, cheap and nasty in other words.
So for example a Tricity washing machine is almost certainly (with the same spec.) identical internally to the equivalent Zanussi, AEG or Electrolux machine since they all get made in the same place, yet there can be a huge difference in price. You are paying for the name and the styling, nothing more. Of course, the manufacturers would argue that there are differences, but when we look up the spares lo and behold, they all use the same part numbers. Now I wonder why that is?
People buy whitegoods largely on the strength of the brand name and the reputation that the appliance has, of course the price does make a difference but customers don’t seem to think that there is any difference between a Servis machine sold for under £200 and a Meile at over a £1000 in terms of performance and longevity. Frankly that’s like trying to compare a Trabant with a Mercedes E Class! The two are worlds apart in terms of performance and in engineering and it’s the engineering and the quality of the components used that determine how long the machine will last.
All the Other Domestic Appliance Brands
Of course there are many other brands out there, but at a guess the ones above will cover the vast bulk of UK and, probably, worldwide appliance sales. So please understand that the big players, along with the large retailers, wield a phenomenal power in the whitegoods industry. So much so that many other, smaller brands, simply buy “badged” products from these manufacturers to bolster their production.
There are alternatives though now. With the opening of the cheap production from former Eastern Bloc states and now massively from China, a lot of smaller production facilities have become available. However, at the time of writing, some dishwashers from China are being produced for under £60 delivered into the UK yet being sold for £200+ and, frankly, they are utter rubbish that are plagued with faults. Install them incorrectly and the cabinet will actually twist, no it isn’t a joke, it is sadly true.
But people want to buy cheap so the retailers and manufacturers will tell you, so you get cheap and, in the process you also get a minefield on brand names, not knowing what you’re buying, from where or manufactured by whom.
It is the German companies which stand out as market leaders, the likes of Siemens, Neff, Liebherr and of course Miele will always be held above other manufacturers in terms of durability, performance and longevity.
Hope this helps and happy shopping !
Townson Service
Domestic Appliance & Whitegoods Repairs
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