Panasonic ending vacuum manufacturing?

[n0oxy]

panasonic and Kenmore

Was at the vacuum convention in St. James Missouri last week. Got to see lots of Kenmore vacuums, some were made by Whirlpool, and many were made by Panasonic. They may not have had the quality of a metal Electrolux, but for the price, you really could not beat them. I'm glad I got a Panasonic mc-cg902 when I did, will be interesting to see what happens with the Kenmore brand as well, especially considering that Sears is also having financial problems and is slowly closing stores.

 

[eurekaprince]

I hope Sears replaces Panasonic with a supplier who is capable of creating excellent Kenmore vacs with them. Tacony, Whirlpool or Electrolux would be the best replacement suppliers: I could see a Kenmore version of the UltraOne canister married to a new Centec power nozzle, and Sanitaire uprights rebranded as Kenmores. But the Electrolux canisters would have to be made at the Mexican factory and quality would have to be upgraded so that their brand reliability could be improved drastically.

 

[Morepowermate]

Indeed, this is sadly true. I have some more information:

Panasonic is totally pulling out of the NA market for home appliance, and even winding down TV production for the US. This has mostly to do with Panasonic's plans to concentrate on B2B, commercial, and industrial--batteries for EVs, power storage, aircraft components, etc. Think of what GE is doing, divesting from the consumer space, or what Westinghouse did many years ago. The profit margins are simply much greater outside of the consumer space, and the Japanese manufacturers are still struggling from decades of financial decline back home.

Kenmore has entered into a partnership with a Chinese manufacturer called Cleva who will continue to produce vacuums based on the Panasonic designs. Cleva purchased all the tooling from the Panasonic plant in Mexico and shipped it to their factory in China. They also hired many of the Panasonic engineering and testing folks from Danville and moved them to Cleva US HQ in Greenville, SC. Most of the Danville offices have been cleared out.

Cleva currently OEMs Craftsman shop vacs, and doesn't have any major presence in the consumer space. Kenmore will be Cleva's only US brand, and nobody else will sell the Kenmore designs.

I've seen the new Kenmore canisters, and indeed they use many of the same components and suppliers as the Panasonic-made models. The main difference is that the covers for specialty tool compartments will be clear, as apparently some consumers had no idea there were floor tools on board (!), and the casing will be smaller and lighter weight. That blasted pedal that keeps the canister wand upright, which always breaks after about six months, is still there, as it has been since the Whirlpool days.

There will be fewer models, but they appear to have better ergonomic designs that aren't bound by the old Panasonic exteriors. For instance, I found it a lot easier to switch between the power brush and the bare floor tool using just my feet. And it's a much better solution than the (I think) 21814 had with that nested silly dual brush.

Yes, Sears is circling the drain, but SHC is structured so that KCD Brands can be sold off separately. I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon bought it as a house brand, complete with the Sears Home Services network of technicians and the Sears delivery network, folding them all under the well-known Kenmore brand. Others inside the industry seem to agree that this may be a possibility.

 

[panasonicvac]

Morepowermate is right

A while ago when I last looked at the website to see what was new about Panasonic, I noticed that some of the vacuums were gone from the website, mainly the performance plus platinum line ups because I knew those didn't sold as well as the cheaper models. I spoke to my old buddy who sold Panasonic for more than 30 years before he retired. I asked about what was new with Panasonic because he still knows everything about Panasonic and that was when I knew the end had came. Not only vacuums but all other TV and household appliances as well. Just like what Morepowermate said about Kenmore, my buddy even told me that as well which I thought I said that in my earlier posts but it turned out I didn't so I'm glad Morepowermate had said something here because some members were wondering about Kenmore.

 

[eurekaprince]

Great. There goes the softest dusting brush on the vacuum cleaner market. Chinese manufacturers do not know how to make a soft horsehair dusting brush.

Watch for Kenmores to drop out of the top rankings in Consumer Reports now, along with a decent brand reliability score turning into something much less dependable.

They should have gone with Tacony or Electrolux. :-(

 

[durango159]

Morepowermate---- any idea if they'll keep similar style power nozzles such as the new PN250 ( plush pro nozzle)? I think the design of that one looks really cool!!

 

[fan-of-fans]

"Great. There goes the softest dusting brush on the vacuum cleaner market. Chinese manufacturers do not know how to make a soft horsehair dusting brush.

Watch for Kenmores to drop out of the top rankings in Consumer Reports now, along with a decent brand reliability score turning into something much less dependable.

They should have gone with Tacony or Electrolux. :-( "

True, but maybe we should give them a chance and see what they come up with. Given that they have hired engineers and testers from Panasonic and are using their tooling and designs, I'd say there's a good chance the quality could stay the same. It sounds like Sears put some thought into this, making sure there was some experience put into it, instead of say, just going to TTI and relabeling low end vacuums as Kenmore with no relation at all to the past ones.

Which may have been happening with some low end uprights, but my expectations were they would either do that or drop their Kenmore vacuums entirely. So this is certainly better news than it could have been. And the fact that they are using the same parts, suppliers and designs means the vacuums will probably stay familiar and won't be completely different.

 

[kirbylux77]

Kenmore's Future

First off....Brian, as far as Tacony or Electrolux taking over vacuum production from Panasonic, neither would have happened. Why? Well, Sears Holdings would have been IDIOTS to go with Electrolux. Their quality since buying the Electrolux name from (now) Aerus has been horrible. Only since moving the plant to Hungary, in the last 5 years, have we seen ANY improvement whatsoever in their vacuums....and even that is very much debatable, especially when you talk to any competent vac shop that is honest & knows their stuff. And also, in my personal opinion, I do believe in recent years the relationship between Electrolux & Sears must have been getting testy, we have rarely seen any vacs that were designed & produced by Electrolux, seems anything not made by Panasonic in the last 5 to 7 years has been produced by Samsung, LG or TTI.

As for Tacony taking over production? Nope. Why would they? They are a small player currently in the vacuum marketplace, trying to compete with the likes of Sebo, Miele, Lindhaus, Aerus, Electrolux, Bosch & the other European canisters in the marketplace. Tacony has barely enough manufacturing space for their own products, let alone to take on Kenmore designs for Sears. Furthermore, considering Tacony's main product lines - Simplicity, Riccar, Fuller Brush & Carpet Pro - are sold in vac shops & authorized online retailers, & the new Kenmore's would obviously be new designs made by Tacony & presumably have design similarities to existing Simplicity/Riccar designs, Kenmore vacuums would be competing head to head with the Simplicity/Riccar machines, & since they would be cheaper & more readily available to the average consumer, that would destroy Tacony's existing brands being sold in vac shops. I highly doubt Tacony would take on, design & manufacture a brand that has the potential to wipe out their existing brands.

As for Panasonic dropping consumer goods altogether? I must admit, I am saddened & shocked by this. I have always preferred Panasonic's cordless phones to other brands, as well as their microwaves. Their TV's were decent quality too, not the best, but very comparable to other makes & decently priced & good value. And I personally think their microwaves are the best in the industry, they seem to last forever & you can always find them second hand quite easily. In fact, I have an old woodie 1984 Panasonic microwave in my kitchen right now.

Now, in regards to Cleva buying the Panasonic designs & shipping the tooling to China. I think this is a good thing! I think Panasonic had in recent years started to improve the quality of the Kenmore vacs, as well as their designs. We can only hope Cleva won't ditch the Kenmore designs entirely & will improve on them, as Morepowermate seems to be implying above. I can only hope, however, they will rethink selling ONLY the Kenmore name for vacuums in North America. If Cleva was smart, they should strongly consider entering into a licensing agreement with Matsushita to use the Panasonic name on a line of vac shop only canisters & uprights. The existing Panasonic designs are good designs, well engineered, & well respected by vac shop owners, & a solid mid-priced brand. So, hopefully they won't throw these perfectly good designs away & miss a out on a profitable market.


BUT, here comes the bad news....Any vacuum collector out there with a prized Kenmore or Panasonic canister that they want to keep running for a long time, & they will need spare parts, had better act FAST! Chances are pretty good I bet that Cleva will discontinue parts for EVERYTHING made before the year 2000. The Chinese won't care that the old vacuums should be saved & kept running, they will want them to die & we go & buy their new designs. So, any smart collector should be stockpiling & buying whatever parts they need Kenmore or Panasonic related while they still can. I actually went out & bought a new Kenmore Elite canister with the Ultra Plush powerhead when I heard of Panasonic discontinuing production, & am quite pleased with it, figured it would be best to not chance being able to get it in the future.

Well, let's hope for the best for Cleva, & at least there IS still a future for Kenmore/Panasonic designs out there instead of just disappearing entirely.

Rob

 

[kirbylux77]

PS - As for any existing manufacturers Sears could have partnered with? I think it would have been nice to see LG or Samsung work with Sears to produce Kenmore models, they have produced some unique designs with similar quality to Panasonic's offerings. Another distinct possibility would have been Fakir-Werk GMBH of Germany, that is one European vacuum company with excellent designs & quality, just under Sebo & Miele. I do hope that they eventually make more of a presence in North America someday. And yes, I know this is REALLY dreaming, but man oh man would it have been nice to see them partner with Aerus . Yes, I know, unlikely to happen, but hey I can always daydream of it LOL.

Rob

 

[eurekaprince]

Hi Rob,

Though I agree that the build quality of the European Electrolux vacs needs lots of improvement, many of their canister vacs are excellent machines: easy to use, extremely quiet and offering powerful airflow through the hose with lots of nice features like well designed straight air carpet nozzles. Some good examples of their high-performing canisters include the Oxygen, the UltraSilencer Green and now the UltraOne.

If Sears had signed with AB Electrolux, production of the Electrolux Kenmores could have moved to the USA or Mexico where build quality could have been managed and improved and monitored by Sears product developers. With this agreement, we could also have seen Sanitaire/Eureka uprights branded as Kenmores.

But that's all moot right now....

 

[suckolux]

I will miss Panasonic! They were my go to for 20+ years for decent quality, working electronics, ect.

 

[mark40511]

In 2004

when I moved into my brand new house, I bought a Kenmore bagged canister. I freaking LOVED that thing. It lasted 2 years but I used it daily. The wand for the quick disconnect shorted out - so I bought another one - lasted 2 years - same thing happened...another thing I did not like was the bag chamber would leak some dust - the way the collar was designed.....but aside from that, they were the most user friendly vacuums and had lots of power......I hate to see them go.

 

[n0oxy]

kenmore bags, electrolux and cleva

I checked the panasonic web site the other day, the mc-cg937 is no longer available, not sure if they will sell any more of those or if the supply is gone. Panasonic definitely made some good products, I have a Panasonic stereo that I bought in 2001 and it's still working as well as the day I got it. Hopefully the Kenmore Q bags will continue to be around for a while, I use them in my Panasonic Mc-cg902. Not sure how many different Kenmore models use those bags.
Regarding Electrolux canisters, I'm not sure about the cheaper models, but I think the Ultra One series are some of the best canisters you can get. They are very powerful and very quiet. The only problem I have with them is that the hose end is nonstandard, but that is easily solved with an adapter. Me and my girl friend both love our Ultra One canisters, I would say they clean as well as Miele or Sebo canisters, which are also very good vacuums. An ultra one with the Kenmore label on it would have been interesting.
Regarding Cleva, I did not know they made the Craftsman wet dry vacs, they do make wet dry vacs with the Vacmaster brand, I have one and it seems well made. But, that explains the similarity that it has to a Craftsman vac that I also have, the tanks are almost the same. It will be interesting to see what Cleva's Kenmore models are like. Wonder if they will still use the Centec power nozzles. Actually, I wonder if Centec will still sell their power nozzles, did Centec actually make those or were they made by Panasonic for Centec and Kenmore?

 

[vacerator]

I keep

passing up a lime green Kenmore progressive at the thrift shop for ten bucks. No idea if it even works. It's missing everything but the hose and hard floor tool.
I'm not really interested in acquiring any more vacs.

 

[panasonicvac]

n0oxy

As far as I know about Centec. Most of their powerheads were made by Panasonic or Matsushita for Centec, Kenmore, and a few central vac companies like Vacumaid, MD, Royal, etc. I'm not sure exactly if Cleva will make powerheads for Centec but it wouldn't be my surprised if they did. I heard a rumor from a supplier that they will but I'm not exactly sure.

The MC-CG937 you could still get on amazon but I would get it as soon as you can before they are all gone.

And there's a bunch of Kenmore Q bags you can still get and I hear those will continue to be made for a very long time.

 

[eurekaprince]

So sad about this. Indeed, I have depended on excellent Panasonic telephones for the last 30 years. It's amazing how one can become extremely loyal to a brand when their products are so dependable. Then they disappear and the loyal customer is left lost in the woods. :-(

I remember their slogan so well: "Panasonic. Just slightly ahead of its time."

 

[eurekaprince]

Oops....

"Just slightly ahead of our time."

 

[fan-of-fans]

Maybe Panasonic will still make parts for older vacuums as mentioned in the original post. I'm sure the Q and C bags will be around for years to come. You can still buy E bags after all these years.

Hopefully the new Kenmore vacs will still use Q and C bags.

 

[n0oxy]

difference between q and c bags

Of course, you need to use the bag that fits the vacuum you have, but what are the differences between the q and c bags? I know the q bags are used in a lot of the canisters, were the c bags for uprights?

 

[durango159]

C and Q bags are both for Kenmore canister vacuums.

Generally the HEPA version is known as the Q. The paper allergen version is more known as the C. The Q takes up for width inside the bag compartment. Both can also be referred to by 5055, 50557 and 50558 versions!