Whirlpool bets 2011 will be the white line year
DCI
Leader in the Latin American market of home appliances, Whirlpool Latin America, owner of brands Brastemp, Consul and KitchenAid, projects growth of up to 10% in the white line this year. The optimism of the manufacturer is based, according to the Marketing Officer of the company, Claudia Sender, in the favorable scenario of the country's economy. "The interest rates have not had an impact in the consumer for this year. Despite the more modest growth of the Brazilian economy, we are optimistic in comparison to the result of last year, when the white line did not have expressive growth in sales, because the consumers sought the Brown Line, because of the TV sets", explains Sender.
The company, which has just launched the "retro" line of refrigerators and stoves, with an average price of R$ 8 thousand (US$ 4.7 thousand) and R$ 4 thousand (US$ 2.4 thousand), respectively, believes the consumers are becoming more and more sophisticated and the so-called class C is more demanding at the time of purchasing durable goods. "We have noticed such evolution in the history of our sales, mainly in class C, which challenges the industry for giving more value for what it buys" says Sender. The new stoves will be produced in the plants of Rio Claro (SP), and the new refrigerators, in Joinville (SC). Since they are higher value-added products, they will not be available in all regions of the country. "We will focus on the Southeast, but the whole country can buy these items through our website", says Sender.
Whirlpool has three plants in Brazil. The company also has 20 Research and Development laboratories, and four Technology Centers: Cooking, Air-Conditioning, Laundry and Refrigeration. It has 14.5 thousand employees.
According to White Line Business Manager of GfK, Oliver Römerscheidt, in 2011, the scenario for the white line industry of in the country will be more stable because there are no influences such as the FIFA World Cup and the exemption of the Excise Tax (IPI). "There is also room for new players, because it is a very concentrated and very attractive market", he says. Oliver explains the segment was at a fairly privileged position because of the reduction of the IPI that was in force until January last year, and that, moreover, 2010 was marked by the World Cup. He highlights that, even though the expansion of the market was lesser when the numbers for each month of 2010 are compared to those of 2009, the segment registered growth in the accrued between January and August. "Consumers are more and more choosing more sophisticated, higher value-added products, which justifies a greater increase in earnings than in units sold", he explains.
In the category of refrigerators, nearly 8% more units were sold than in the same period in 2009. In earnings, however, the rate achieved nearly 10%, since the two-door pieces of equipment were sought the most. Stoves had growth of 6.3% in earnings.
The Korean manufacturers of home appliances and electronics Samsung and LG, alert to the movement in the Brazilian market, have already studied the setting up of home appliance and electronics plants in the interior of São Paulo, where the competitors Mabe (Campinas), Whirlpool (Rio Claro) and Electrolux (São Carlos) are already in operation. Samsung is importing home appliances since last year. As regards LG, it foresees for this year a plant in the interior of São Paulo for the production of refrigerators, stoves and other white line goods. According to the company, that can take place in a new plant or in an existing one.
The Japanese Panasonic will also invest in the segment. The investment of nearly EUR 53 million will be used in the construction of a plant for the manufacture of home appliances in São Paulo in 2012. The complex will have an annual productive capacity of 500 thousand refrigerators as of October 2012, and it is expected to start producing 200 thousand washing machines a year as of March 2013.