Electrolux
Electrolux
Type | Publicly traded Aktiebolag |
---|---|
Traded as | Nasdaq Stockholm: ELUX B [64] |
Industry | Home appliance |
Founded | 1919 (1919) |
Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Ronnie Leten (Chairman) Jonas Samuelson (President & CEO) |
Products | Major appliances, Small appliances |
Revenue | ![]() |
Operating income | ![]() |
Net income | ![]() |
Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Owner | Investor AB (15.5%; 29.9% votes)[1] |
Number of employees | ![]() |
Website | electrolux.com [65] |
Electrolux AB (commonly known as Electrolux, Swedish: [ɛ²lɛkːtrʊˌlɵks]) is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm.[2] It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold after Whirlpool.[3]
Electrolux products sell under a variety of brand names (including its own), and are primarily major appliances and vacuum cleaners intended for consumer use.[4] The company also makes appliances for professional use.[5] Electrolux has a primary listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the OMX Stockholm 30 index.
Type | Publicly traded Aktiebolag |
---|---|
Traded as | Nasdaq Stockholm: ELUX B [64] |
Industry | Home appliance |
Founded | 1919 (1919) |
Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Ronnie Leten (Chairman) Jonas Samuelson (President & CEO) |
Products | Major appliances, Small appliances |
Revenue | ![]() |
Operating income | ![]() |
Net income | ![]() |
Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Owner | Investor AB (15.5%; 29.9% votes)[1] |
Number of employees | ![]() |
Website | electrolux.com [65] |
History

The Autoluxlamp, a kerosene lamp manufactured by Lux and used in railway stations around the world in the early 20th century.
The company originates from a merger of two companies—Lux AB and Svenska Elektron AB, the former an established manufacturer and the latter a younger company founded by a former vacuum salesman who had also been an employee of the former firm.[6] The origins of Electrolux are closely tied to the vacuum, but today it also makes major appliances.
Sales company to major manufacturer
Mergers and acquisitions
The company has often and regularly expanded through mergers and acquisitions.
While Electrolux had bought several companies before the 1960s, that decade saw the beginnings of a new wave of M&A activity. The company bought ElektroHelios, Norwegian Elektra, Danish Atlas, Finnish Slev, and Flymo, et al., in the nine years from 1960 to 1969.[12] This style of growth continued through the 1990s, seeing Electrolux purchase scores[13] of companies including, for a time, Husqvarna.[13][14]
Hans Werthen
Hans Werthen, President and later Chairman of the Board, led the strategic core of an increasingly decentralized Electrolux—and was instrumental to its rapid growth.
Restructuring
A public company

Vacuum Cleaner designed by Lurelle Guild ca. 1937 Brooklyn Museum
Electrolux made an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 1928 (it was delisted in 2010)[16] and another on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1930.[10][17]
Currently, its shares trade on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Market and over-the-counter.[18] Electrolux is an OMX Nordic 40 constituent stock.
2000 to present
In North America, the Electrolux name was long used by vacuum cleaner manufacturer Aerus LLC, originally established to sell Swedish Electrolux products. In 2000, Aerus transferred trademark rights back to the Electrolux Group, and ceased using the Electrolux name in 2004.[19]
Conversely, Electrolux-made vacuums carried the Eureka brand name, which Electrolux continued to use while also selling Electrolux branded vacuums after 2000. Electrolux USA customer service maintains a database of Electrolux made vacuums and provides a link to Aerus's website for the convenience of owners of Electrolux branded Aerus vacuums.[20]
Keith McLoughlin took over as President and CEO on January 1, 2011, and became the company's first non Swedish chief executive.
In August 2011, Electrolux acquired from Sigdo Koppers the Chilean appliance manufacturer CTI obtaining several brands with the purchase including: Fensa, Gafa, Mademsa and Somela.[21] On February 6, 2017, Electrolux announced that it had agreed to acquire Anova Applied Electronics, Inc. (company),[22] the U.S.-based provider of the Anova Precision Cooker.[23][24]
Notable products

Electrolux Assistent, 1940.
1919: The Lux vacuum is the first product Electrolux sells.
1925: D, Electrolux's first refrigerator, is an absorption model.[10]
1937: Electrolux model 30 vacuum is unveiled.
1940: Assistent (Swedish for assistant), the company's only wartime consumer product,[17] is a mixer[25]/food processor.[26]
1951: W 20, Electrolux's first home washing machine, is manufactured in Gothenburg, Sweden.[17]
1959: D 10, the company's first dishwasher, is a counter top model nicknamed "round jar".[11]
2001: Launch of the Electrolux Trilobite, a robotic vacuum cleaner.[27]
Brands

An Electrolux canister vacuum cleaner
Electrolux sells under a wide variety of brand names worldwide. Most of them were acquired through mergers and acquisitions and only do business in a single country or geographic area. The following is an incomplete list.
- Europe
Arthur Martin
AEG
Atlas[:da] (Denmark)
Corberó (Spain)
Dometic, appliances for RV's, also uses the Electrolux logo. Based in Sweden and owned by Dometic Group, itself owned by EQT Partners since 2011.
Elektro Helios, manufacturer of consumer appliances for the Swedish market[28]
Faure, French consumer appliance maker[29]
Lehel, consumer appliance brand sold in Hungary and elsewhere
Marynen/Marijnen, consumer product brand sold in the Netherlands[30]
Parkinson Cowan, cooking appliances (United Kingdom)
Progress, vacuum cleaner brand sold throughout Europe[31]
Rosenlew, consumer product brand sold in Scandinavian countries[33]
Samus, Romanian producer of cooking stoves headquartered in Satu Mare[34]
Voss, premium consumer cooking appliance and equipment supplier in Denmark and elsewhere[35]
Zanker, consumer kitchen appliance brand sold in central Europe[36]
Zanussi, Italian appliance manufacturer that became part of Electrolux in 1984 [37]
Zanussi Professional, professional kitchen equipment manufacturer[38]
Zoppas, consumer products brand sold in Italy[39]
- Australia and Oceania
Dishlex brand sold in Australia[40]
Kelvinator, commercial refrigerator and freezer brand sold in Australia and elsewhere[41]
Simpson, consumer appliance brand sold in Australia[42]
Westinghouse, a kitchen appliance brand in Australia licensed from Westinghouse Electric Corp to Electrolux Home Products Pty Ltd.[43]
- North America
Anova Applied Electronics, Inc.,[22] provider of the Anova Precision Cooker[23][24]
Electrolux ICON, premium consumer appliance brand sold in the US[44]
Eureka, American consumer vacuum cleaner brand, Sold to Midea, China in 2016[45]
Frigidaire, major appliance manufacturer.
Gibson, refrigerator and air conditioning manufacturer[46]
Philco, former U.S. consumer electronics and appliance manufacturer for appliances, though brand name is also used separately for electronics by Philips
Sanitaire, commercial product division of Eureka
Tappan, former U.S. appliance manufacturer
White-Westinghouse, former U.S. appliance manufacturer
- Latin America
Fensa, Chilean consumer appliance brand, widely available in Latin America.
Gafa, Argentinean appliance manufacturer.
Mademsa, Chilean home appliance brand
Somela, Chilean home appliance brand, available throughout Latin America[47]
- Middle East
King, Israeli kitchen appliance brand made by REX-Electrolux, an Italian Electrolux subsidiary.
Olympic Group, home appliance brand in Egypt
- Global/other
Arthur Martin-Electrolux
Beam, Electrolux's central vacuum brand[48]
Castor
Chef
Dito, professional food processing equipment[49]
Electrolux Laundry Systems
Electrolux Professional
Frigidaire, full range major appliance brand sold globally[50]
Juno-Electrolux, premium consumer kitchen appliance brand[51]
Molteni, professional stoves[52]
Tornado, vacuum cleaners and other consumer products[53]
Therma
Tricity Bendix
Volta, vacuum cleaner brand sold in Australia, Sweden and elsewhere[54]
Wascator, now under Electrolux Laundry Systems
Note: This list does not include brands such as Kenmore and John Lewis, which may sell Electrolux produced appliances but are not owned by or affiliated with Electrolux, as Electrolux acts as an OEM for these brands.
Slogan
The company's current international slogan is "Shape living for the Better". In the past it used to be "Thinking of you".[55] In the 1960s the company successfully marketed vacuums in the United Kingdom with the slogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux".[56]
In the United States, it was frequently assumed that using this slogan was a brand blunder. In fact, the informal American meaning of the word sucks was already well known at the time in the United Kingdom, and the company hoped the slogan, with its possible double entendre, would gain attention.[57] In Indonesia, the Electrolux previous slogans as "Kalau saja semua seawet Electrolux" (English: If Only All Durable as Electrolux).
See also
Constructor Group AS, a former Electrolux subsidiary not involved in major appliance manufacture