Electrolux plans to increase prices by six percent in 2009

“The biggest challenge we as the industry are facing at present is the necessity to make a transition from a deflationary industry into an inflationary one”, said Enderson Guimaraes, the newly appointed ‘Head of Major Appliances’, Electrolux Europe in an exclusive interview given to IER. 
“Since about 20 years ago the prices were constantly going down but now we are entering the inflationary times. The costs of raw materials have been growing steadily and this process has accelerated over the last two years. As a result we have to raise prices, and we are anticipating price increases of an average of six per cent over the next year in all our European markets. There is no alternative for us. I hope that the whole industry will follow our example.
“Our research shows that consumers are willing to pay for value, so if we continue to bring innovation we will be offering them good value for money. I don’t believe that you can cost-cut to success in this industry.”
Mr Guimaraes believes that Electrolux is well equipped to weather the recession: “We are lucky that we have a strong portfolio of brands which we will use strategically in different countries and market segments.”
He also predicts that the domestic appliances sector will recover from the current recession sooner than anticipated because “it is a very important area for the consumer. Many trends work in our favour: the kitchen is becoming the hub of the house, and there is a growing interest in cooking and entertaining at home, fuelled by the celebrity status of the big chefs. A great deal of personal emotions is tied up with this,  it is therefore crucial to get an understanding of what matters to the consumers and respond to this with innovations. In fact, we will need to increase the speed of innovation.”