Electrolux UK, What Happened?

[jake1234]

Hi all,

Just wanted to ask about Electrolux UK since I dont think its been talked about too much since the company disappeared in 2014 I think. Does anybody know the real reason why Electrolux UK dont sell vacuum cleaners over here any more? It saddens me as I really loved Electrolux cleaners and they were one of the few brands left that offered a bagged upright. Why did they disappear? And do you think they will ever come back? I really liked there machines and they always done a good job even the later modern ones ( well the bagged ones anyway) Eldctrolux Cleaners where Hugely popular over hear and I cannot understand why they would just stop production straight away without any warning because they must of been making an absolute killing. I think everyone new at least one person who had an electrolux cleaner. I know you can still get AEG cylinder cleaners and that AEG are somehow tied to Electrolux but im not sure how. I would be absolutely overjoyed if Electrolux came back to the UK market and especially if they brought a bagged upright back with them. I just cant understand what happened, if anyone can shed some light on the whole situation I would be very greatful. Sorry for all the questions! But any infomation you have at all, please tell me! Many many thanks in advance, one of your fellow collectors, Jake

 

[rowdy141]

Hi Jake,

I don't have any solid news or facts regarding Electrolux' demise, but it seems that all long-lived brands such as Hoover, Electrolux, Bush, Phillips... made the same mistakes and ended-up the same way.

Too reliable:
Companies who built their names and empires on reliability, suffered when their products last too long. No-one considers replacing a working vacuum unnecessarily. Especially when times are hard.

Old fashioned:
Japanese brands became the sought-after names to have in Hi-Fi and TV. Brands you'd seen around your parents' & grandparents' homes appeared old-fashioned and outdated.
Where was their market?

Too expensive:
1970's UK General Strikes. Three-day working week. 1980's Recessions. British Steel gone. Copper shortage. Prices sky-high. Labour costs rocketing. Buying British became an unaffordable luxury. Same happened with cars and sewing machines.

Vacuum Manufacturers tried discontinuing their reusable bags, promoting disposables for new machines, but this just gave a foot-in-the-door to Dyson with his new "Bagless" system.

Many regard the "Free Flights" fiasco as Hoover's downfall. But remember; Hoover needed a promotion like that to invigorate sales. They were already struggling.

You're right. Electrolux were a great brand. my mum's lasted 30 years and was still working when we scrapped it. I miss my one.

The only upside to all of this is the abundance of solid, reliable, vintage machines that are still running perfectly well today. And they're relatively cheap.

Perhaps if times are bad-enough, for long-enough, we'll see the return of quality and reliability? But I doubt it'll happen in the short term. Quality is just too expensive.

Upscaling, repurposing, make do 'n' mend, and repair programmes on TV, are catching on, slowly. In the meantime, Dyson plastics are outselling all other brands.

Alan

 

[jake1234]

Electrolux

Hi Alan,

I take into account all the points you are making as they are very valid but something just doesnt add up. Ekectrolux cleaners wer reliable but I wouldnt say they were over reliable, well, I mean there are always a few at my local tip. They were so popular that they MUST of been making a profit- Electrolux cleaners were everywhere.I hope some of the other brands dont go the same way, I cant imagine a world without the company Hoover!

 

[rowdy141]

I think it just became the 'perfect storm' and they couldn't endure it. None of those huge Companies could.

They made a profit, yes, but only up to a point. Then it ended. It became cheaper for suppliers to import products (e.g. vacuums) from the Far East where labour's cheap, than to buy anthing made here. Cheaper for the consumer to buy new, rather than repair a British vacuum. No more UK vacuum repair-shops in high streets. Even Dyson's moved operations abroad now.

High streets used to have Singer Sewing Centres. But consumers buy new made-in-India clothes. They don't generally make their own, or repair old stuff. For the few that do, it's cheaper to buy a plastic imported sewing machine. Singer Sewing Machines were cast-iron. Built to last. Handed down through families. The World's largest company went bust.

When consumers are looking for new replacements, they don't need to focus solely on UK brands, they have the whole world to choose from. And the Internet brings those goods an iPad click away.

Just an aside: Iceland Frozen Foods import Nescafe instant Coffee from Indonesia. Its cheaper for them to buy it there, ship it around the globe, and then import it, than it is to buy it from where its made - here in the UK!

 

[gsheen]

Electrolux and AEG pulled out of vacuums around the same time here, I dont think it had anything to do with lack of sale's because here they were the No1 selling brand in floorcare in every market segment.
The upright market was gaining popularity again here and this was going to be a issue with the sale of Eureka to Midea as this was were our uprights were sourced from. I see in Europe and the UK aeg vacuums are still available and the Electrolux brand is still hugely popular in Asia especially the wet&dry shop vac styled vacs that were huge here too.

 

[rowdy141]

Even carpets themselves went out of fashion. People want hardwood floors (or laminate substitutes) and studio warehouse-style apartments. Like those they've seen on American TV & sitcoms. Many vacuums were replaced by microfibre mops.

The temporary fad of the 1970's to have rubber-backed carpets in the bathroom, didn't help the image of carpet. The idea took-off really quickly, especially in UK homes with no bathroom heating, but those carpets soon stank!

Net curtains became old-fashioned too. And to a lesser extent, top curtains. Seen as something only your grandmother had. Replaced with blinds. Suddenly homes resembled sterile environments from toothpaste commercials. No need for a vacuum-attached curtain dusting-brush.

Wallpaper has all but disappeared too. No need for wall-dusting attachments on a vacuum, when your walls are wipe-down emulsion paint. Remember wallpaper samples books?

In a relatively short time, the need to own a vacuum has diminished.

 

[crazykirbydude]

We got some of the Eureka Electrolux AEG machines here in the U.S. as well, mainly the Oxygen line sold at Lowe's. They failed pretty quickly here, because everyone thought they were buying a high quality Aerus machine, but in reality it was cheap junk! Over here, we still have Aerus LLC, which used to be Electrolux USA. The new Aerus machines are just as good as the old ones, and much better than the Eurekalux crap sold at Lowe's.

 

[jake1234]

Electrolux

I thought Electrolux was still a very popular brand for vacuum cleaners in the USA didnt realise sales had stopped over your way even if it was just the name that was dropped. I still cant understand why they would stop using it. It was a good quality brand that everyone new and was hugely popular. So why they would stop production in the UK I just dont know. I would absolutely LOVE to find the reason though as its got to be something.

 

[crazykirbydude]

AEG Eurekalux AB bought the name back from Aerus Electrolux LLC. in 2000, and everyone started buying the shitty Eurekalux vacuums instead of the high quality Aerus models. Then, when the Eurekalux machines broke down or MELTED, people raised a fuss, and now hardly anyone buy the Eurekalux machines anymore. That hurt Aerus too, because people had never heard of Aerus, only Electrolux like their mother had.

 

[eurekaprince]

I respectfully have to disagree. I bought a little Electrolux UltraSilencer Green about 10 years ago and I love this basic canister vacuum. Very quiet, powerful, effective and easy to use. My elderly mother has it now. The Electrolux Dust Magnet carpet nozzle is one of the most effective carpet nozzles I have ever used.

These European designed Electrolux canisters really had nothing to do with Bloomington’s Eureka company, apart from sharing the parent company AB Electrolux in Sweden. There were a few European models over the years that were rebranded Eureka for the American market, but that stopped when they bought back the right to use their real name in North America. In fact, aside from the Oxygen, the Eureka Europa and Excaliber canisters were excellent cleaners whose main bodies were made by Swedish Volta, another division of Electrolux.

It’s important to remember the history here: without the Swedish Electrolux company, there would never have been an American Electrolux company.

 

[crazykirbydude]

They've really been separate entities since 1937 when Electrolux USA released their first US exclusive model.

 

[panasonicvac]

I'm with Brian on this. Even under the Sanitaire brand like the S677D with the ST style bag, they were some excellent vacuums.

 

[crazykirbydude]

Of course a Sanitaire is gonna be good. I was talking about the orange Oxygen canisters. Every single one I've come across is broken. It seems that Eurekalux AB has fallen apart mostly. I'm not sure what happened to Electrolux Sweden AB, but I know Eureka has been sold to Midea and Sanitaire has been sold to Bissell.

 

[n0oxy]

Electrolux canisters

The Ultra One canisters were very good machines, very quiet and powerful, and these were made by the Swedish Electrolux company rather than Aerus. Just like in other places, it appears that Electrolux for some reason decided to leave the vacuum market. The Ultra One canisters have been discontinued, Eureka was sold off, Sanitaire was sold to Bissell and their Beam brand which made central vacuums was sold to Nuera which is the company that makes the Duovac brand. Sanitaire makes a very good backpack vacuum, I have several backpacks in my collection and that one is one of my favorites.
Mike

 

[turbo500]

Electrolux are still present on the UK market in the form of AEG and Zanussi branded vacuums, with AEG being the higher end and Zanussi being the budget end to match the washing machine branding. Aside from streamlining the branding, I've no idea what made them do it but suspect it may be because of the poor reputation the brand had got itself after a decade of churning out horrendous, unreliable single cyclone machines that clogged up, overheated and leaked like hell.