Just a response to Karl's comment....
Hi Karl,
I think you have the Eureka / Electrolux relationship a little inversed. No Electrolux vac is made by Eureka - it's the other way around. All Eurekas are now made by Electrolux. Even the American-designed power nozzles and uprights that are not available in Europe are now in essence made by Sweden's Electrolux. Let me try to explain the history very briefly.
Up until the 1950's, North American Electroluxes were made by the same company that designed and produced the European Electroluxes - so the vacs looked pretty similar. In 1968, the European Electrolux company sold it's share in North America's Electrolux, including the right to use the "Electrolux" name in North America. From 1968 on, they were completely separate companies, with completely different designs and machines.
Up until the Free Trade agreement signed between Canada and the USA in the early 1990's, the Canadian government forced all USA companies to open up separate plants in Canada if they wanted to sell their products here (GM, Ford, Electrolux, Hoover, GE, Eureka, etc.). So, often the Canadian plants would have different designs for their products than their American counterparts. That's why the Electroluxes made in Montreal were so different from the one's made in Old Greenwich Connecticut.
Sweden's Electrolux bought back the right to use their name in North America in 2003, and at the same time bought the right to sell European Electroluxes like the Oxygen canister (made in Hungary) in North America. Because of this, the North American Electrolux company you are so fond of was now forced to use the name Aerus.
To make matters more complicated, in 1974, Europe's Electrolux bought the Eureka Williams Company of Bloomington Illinois and its sister plant in Kitchener Ontario. For about 30 years after that, Eureka's vacs were still for the most part made in North America, though some Eureka vacs were actually Electroluxes imported from Europe and relabelled Eureka. That's why our Eureka "Excalibur" was actually a Volta machine, and our Eureka Oxygen was actually a Swedish Electrolux design married to a North American power nozzle.
When Sweden's Electrolux bought back the rights to their name in the US and Canada, they began to sell vacs with the Eureka name and the Electrolux name. The American Electrolux company of 1968-2003 which you are so fond of is now know as Aerus.
Just a final note - Consumer Reports consistently rates the Electrolux Oxygen (with the Eureka Power Nozzle) better in performance (and lower in cost) than the Aerus Guardian.
If you want a more detailed history, see the link below.
Hope this helps explain why the European Electroluxes look so different from the Connecticut Electroluxes with which you are more familiar.
I'm excited to see the first pics of the new Aerus, aren't you?
Brian
in Canada
http://www.ristenbatt.com/eu/lux-name.mv?SubWin=Yes
