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[spiraclean]

The inclusion of additional floor heads is a different matter altogether, because they are an actual feature the consumer can see as being of direct benefit to them. Features are what grabs the general public's attention, specifications (such as weight, cord length or bag capacity) very much less so.

Regarding Miele, the original Solution cleaner in mint green first appeared in the late 90s, and came supplied with a combi head, parquet brush and turbo head. Rather than being late to the game, I dare say they predated the K1 Komfort by quite a large margin. My previous cylinder was an S5 Solution, and even that was five years ago. It's something Miele have offered for a long time.

 

[turbo500]

That was preciesely my point, Spiraclean. Yes, the Sebo cylinders obviously do have their advantages, but they're far less obvious, marketable features than the uprights and more specs than anything else. Lined up, in a store against other cylinders, there is nothing to really grab the buyer in to chosing the Sebo, so it may appear that a Bosch or other cylinder is better value/has more features etc.

For whatever reason, cylinders have always been more popular across Europe. This makes sense in hotter countries like Italy and Spain where tile floors are popular, but in countries like France, Germany and The Netherlands where the climate is not unlike ours and carpet is still pretty popular, it's anybody's guess as to why. I have relatives and friends in The Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Denmark. ALL of them own cylinders and having been in stores selling vacuums in all of them at various points, there's never an upright in sight.

 

[sebo_fan]

Didn't know about Miele offering floor heads with previous models, but I think Electrolux were one of the first to do so way back in the 1960s/70s to offer a full complement of tools... could have been Hoover too.. good times back then.
 
As for SEBO - well they do have ONE thing that is different to all the others - but it is a pity that the K3 Premium with the ETH isn't sold more widely on the shop floor. I think the relative expense of that model alone has something to do with it. The D4 Premium is also relatively on its own - no other brand in the UK can offer a cylinder vacuum with a big dust bag AND the power nozzle.
 
As for those other European countries - it has zilch to do with climate.
 
Cue Habitat, the "Danish design" of the world where many a Danish designer has shown their home designs and my Observer magazines that aren't worth anything from the 1960s - show European homes in Italy, France, NL and Germany where for the most part clean design was key - thus very little in the way of actual wall to wall carpeting and instead clean surfaces, vinyl flooring, tiled flooring, anything other than carpets.

Even the Germans went one better (and now found in parts of Holland and other Scandinavian countries) by producing outer, exterior blinds that add security as well as keeps the windows outside clean.
 
The mags also show plenty of rugs though which is something I've seldom seen in British homes until the late 1990s when Argos went on a rug spree alongside other home centre based franchises. Also those European countries lacked those "head stain" additional covers that we Brits seemed to enjoy putting over sofas and arm chairs.
 
Now everyone has a rug in their living room OVER existing carpet. I can see a point in that if you have tons of friends over, for somewhere to put their feet when they come walking through the door. 
 
Even when I have stayed with friends in France, permanent carpets are very few in the home. Carpet tiles at times though, (again a Dutch tendency, helped along by several Dutch & Danish companies who make them.)
 
This is why so many brands offer stick vacuums - that's really where the market lies in terms of offering those countries who don't normally buy full size uprights to have something smaller in the home that constitutes like an upright but without the added bulk and mechanics. If all you have to do is clean up a small rug or a little bit of a carpet, no wonder those countries adore cylinder vacuums.

Maybe in England where the climate is similar to the countries you speak of, there would be more correlation but definitely not the case in Scotland - old stone built homes may offer good insulation but you'd have to be a nut to install hard floors throughout - carpets thus add extra insulation as well as retaining the heat better. 

 

[sebox4]

Cylinders on the continent

I have to agree with Sebo_fan, fitted carpet is almost non-existant.

The general attitude, certainly in germany is that fitted carpets are "dirty" and old fashioned, even in bedrooms and living rooms ceramic tiles are popular, but most people have a mixture of wood (or laminate) and tile throughout. Most houses have woodern or tiled staircases too, even upstairs floors in German homes are solid concrete, so noise is less of an issue.

When I lived there I think I only ever saw 1 upright, and that was a Sebo, even with Vorwerk you seemed to see a lot more of the 'tiger' than the 'kobold'.

Infact when some school friends came round one day and my Mum had been cleaning up, they commented that they had never seen a vacuum like hers "without a hose and pipes" (Dyson DC01 de stijl...don't go there!).

Matt

 

[sebo_fan]

Miele in Germany and Greece are now supplying models with the Parquet twister XL head as standard = proof that these countries are requiring hard floor vacs rather than the push for carpets.