Hoover UK

[marcusprit]

Hoover UK make some nice budget vacuums but is there any reason why they can't make high quality vacuums to rival Sebo and Miele?

I'm sure they are more than capable. We have some fantastic engineers and designers in this country.Not to mention scientists. For a smallish country we have given the world a lot. It's time to show the world how good British vacuums can be!

 

[vintagerepairer]

" is there any reason why they can't make high quality vacuums to rival Sebo and Miele?"

Yes, because they do not service that market sector. Their target customer is not in the high-end bracket. A business makes it's profit margins on either high-end low-turnover goods, or else high-turnover low end goods. But a succesful business knows it's market placement and knows it's customer.

Your local greasy-spoon builders cafe is more than capable of serving 5-course meals. The reason they don't is because they are much more at home serving the food they do at the price they charge. It suits their skill-sets and above all they have a target customer who wants their offerings.

 

[marcusprit]

I understand your point but couldn't they offer a budget range and a high end range? As Miele do with the S2 and S8 for example?

 

[turbo500]

Hoover have never been a British company. The Hoover was invented by an american and first manufactured in the US. Later on, the company was split into 2 divisions - Hoover US and Hoover Europe. Hoover Europe's base was the UK, but the company HQ and owners were all in the US.

Hoover Europe went under in the mid-90's following the free flights fiasco and were bought out by Candy in 1995. Since then, quality has declined and the cleaners have become cheaper and cheaper. Production in the UK ceased in 2003 when the Cambuslang factory closed. They're now made in various parts of Europe and China (I believe there is still a factor in Portugal, but don't quote me on that) and the company that we knew as Hoover Europe no longer exists - it's just a division of Candy now.

 

[turbo500]

couldn't they offer a budget range and a high end range?

They probably could, but why would they when they make more than enough profits on cheap throw-away appliances? There washers are absolutely awful these days too and don't last more than a few years. They're not a quality brand anymore and haven't been in a good 10-15 years. The last decent vacuum they made was the early Purepowers/late Turbopower 2's and the last decent washing machine they made was, arguabley, the New Wave's in about 1994.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Yes they could - of course they could- but if they stand to make little money out of it, why would they? It's not just the cost of desiging and making a high-end product, it's the cost of marketing it too. It can take years and years to break even on a new product, by which time interest in it may have dropped.

A business is a balance of doing what it does best for as little as possible, and making as much profit as possible per unit. This is why many manufacturers of all sorts of products have streamlined their ranges to service only high-end or low-end consumers, and in many cases have discontinued making some product altogether.

So, again, what would be in this for Hoover?

 

[marcusprit]

Ah yes good point Chris. But what are there no high end British bagged vacuums made? I find that quite depressing as we are more than capable :-(

 

[vintagerepairer]

Marcus, I think you are overlooking the point that a manufacturer makes goods to make a profit. They are not providing a service, and if they were, it wouldn't be one which was regualted and depended on, like supplying electricity.

Every country is capable of lots of things - if there is no demand for that 'thing' then there is no point doing it.

 

[marcusprit]

As you say the cost of designing and marketing is the problem. It's very sad though. I'd love to see a high end British bagged vacuum manufacturer.

 

[turbo500]

are there no high end British bagged vacuums made?

Depends what you class as high end.

Numatic are the only manufacturer left who still make vacuums in the UK. Everything else is made in Europe and China.

It's likely because nobody is based here anymore. Electrolux used to be made in Luton, but they've pulled out of the vacuum market with only the AEG and Zanussi brands now appearing on Electrolux Group cleaners. These are made in Sweden (Electrolux's base country) and China, depending on the model. Hoover were bought out by Candy, so production eventually moved to already existing Candy factories. Dyson went to Malaysia in the early 2000's and Goblin got bought out. That's all the British made vacs I can think of off the top of my head. Only Numatic are still here.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Goblin

Were bought out by an American business around 1985 - it's only by Gods good grace that production stayed in the UK for as long as it did, and even then their high-end cleaners were often sourced from other companies who made then in goodness only knows how where.

But it's an interesting brand to mention, Turbo500, as Goblin was always a cheap & cheerful low-end product, sold with a price tag to reflect this. Goblin knew it's market very, very well.

 

[sensotronic]

Here's a recent report about Hoover's financial results. They are a shadow of their former selves and sales are tiny compared to the boom years.

As for making a quality cleaner, I think we are lucky that they still market a bagged upright, though my recent unboxing of a new Purepower (which will be on my channel tomorrow) shows that the quality has hit rock bottom.

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/wales/125463-/

 

[marcusprit]

What about Numatic producing an Upright cleaner for the commercial world? Which could lead to an upright for the domestic market?

 

[turbo500]

Numatic producing an Upright cleaner

They did produce 2 uprights years ago. The swift and Turbo-something (sorry, the name has escaped me). These were very similar to Vorwerk machines. Infact, they possibly were rebadged Vorweks. They didn't sell very well though and only lasted a few years.

Personally, I'd say it's a much safer bet for Numatic to continue doing what they do best. Their cylinders are very highly regarded in terms of quality and reliability, why damage that reputation on a cleaner that might not even sell that well?

Don't forget, Numatic were for many years primarily a commercial company and Sebo pretty much dominated the commercial upright market from 1977 onwards. It would make far more financial sense to not compete with Sebo, but to compliment them by aiming for the cylinder end of the commercial market.

 

[marcusprit]

You're probably correct Sebo Fan so no British high end bagged vacuum cleaners. Tis a shame.

 

[marcusprit]

Sebo Fan? Chris i mean!!! Haha

 

[sebo_fan]

Numatic however rebadge certain SEBO commercial uprights in other countries, such as Numatic's German website.





http://www.numatic.de/produkte/numatic370/

 

[marcusprit]

Oh right I didn't realise that. How does that work then?

 

[turbo500]

How does that work then?

They're made on licence. Numatic pay Sebo an amount to manufacturer a machine with their branding on it, and then both companies share the profit - Numatic for the branding and Sebo for the patent. Kind of like song writing royalties.

This is very popular for commercial vacuums, especially Sebo. Sebo uprights have been made under licence as Jeyes Hygeine, Engisn, Windsor, Johnson Diversity and Numatic just to name a few and it's one way that Sebo made profits right from their very first year. Infact, their first cleaner (the Sebo 350) was never actually branded Sebo in this country.