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Electrolux is about to make its presence felt in Ciudad Juárez.
The Electrolux Group is the world’s largest producer of powered
appliances for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, such as
refrigerators, washing machines, cookers, vacuum cleaners,
chainsaws, lawn mowers, and garden tractors. Every year,
customers in more than 150 countries buy more than 55 million
Electrolux Group products for both consumer and professional use
sold under famous brands such as AEG, Electrolux, Zanussi,
Frigidaire, Eureka and Husqvarna.
To
help meet that demand, Electrolux is ready to open a 1.7 million
square foot assembly plant in Juárez. The plant will employ
3,000 and be the biggest industrial building ever in the state
of Chihuahua. The first phase of the project is estimated to
cost $100 million. Full production is expected in 2006.
Electrolux will assemble refrigerators at the plant with
production expected to reach 1.2 million units a year.
Electrolux also has a smaller plant in Juárez, which makes parts
for the firm’s Eureka brand of vacuum cleaners. The company has
also said it intends to source as much as 40 percent of its
material locally, which would require some of its suppliers to
relocate to Juárez.
Hans Straberg, Electrolux president and CEO, spoke recently
about the global company’s current strategy.
“Our company - Electrolux - is in the midst of a process of
change,” he said. “We’re changing the way we develop new
products. We’re changing our branding efforts. We’re changing
our methods of buying materials and components. We’re changing
our production base and we’re changing the structure of the
group.
“At last year’s annual meeting, I discussed some of the global
trends that are affecting us. One of the most important is
increased opportunities for purchasing and production in
countries with a lower cost base.”
What’s causing the trend?
“The obvious effect is tougher price competition,” he said. “And
hand in hand with this trend, we consumers are doing what we
should do in an open global economy. We are choosing the
products that offer the greatest consumer value at the lowest
possible price. You can think what you like about this trend,
which has such obvious consequences for...
...Continued
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