"Anyone who claims that a decision on the future of Whirlpool EMEA has already been made is a liar." So she lapidary began Gilles Morel, president of Whirlpool EMEA and executive vice president of Whirlpool Corporation, Thursday 21 at the meeting with the Cae, the European Company Committee that brings together the group's European trade union representatives, convened to take stock of the production and sales performance of Whirlpool EMEA in the first half of 2022 and on the eve of the semester accounts Whirlpool Corporation which will arrive at the end of today, Monday 25, from the Benton Harbor office in Michigan. The meeting was particularly awaited due to the numerous and worried reactions of the unions (from the local administrations in Lega share and from the Government never a line of comment) following the uncertainties on the fate of the EMEA branch on which the Corporation itself had communicated at the end of April of have started one strategic review. And also following what had been reported on Firstonline about a marked interest from three Chinese multinationals (Midea, Galanz and Hisense) and the Turkish group Arçelik for the acquisition of the activities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East of the American multinational.
Whirlpool semester accounts, Emea: reshoring of washing machines in Italy from Russia
What came out of the meeting with the EWC? If the unions have once again expressed their apprehension, the summit has first confirmed investments of the three-year plan, communicated months ago, namely 85 million euros in Italy, 80 in Poland and 10 in Slovakia and the United Kingdom. And with another good news and that is that, following the recent agreement for the sale to the Turkish Arçelik of all Whirlpool operations in Russia and former Soviet republics, is transferred to former Indesit factory in Comunanza (which was at risk) part of the production of slimline washing machine, those 45 cm wide instead of 60 or in any case of reduced size, which were produced in the Russian factory. As for the results of these first few months of the year, Morel would have declared himself "confident" according to a definition in fashion today, and in any case not pessimistic, confirming his commitment to achieving a improvement of the accounts of the European branch. The trade unions instead – as he told Firstonline Matteo Berardi (Fiom), representative of the Rsu Whirlpool and Fiom of Varese, are increasingly alarmed.
Whirlpool semester accounts, Emea: margins down, costs up
"And we are rightly so because the Government - Berardi declares - has so far shown no interest in the fate of the over 5 thousand Italian employees of Whirlpool. The situation of the Italian household appliance industry is critical, we realize that the profit margins of the sector are increasingly declining in Europe, inflation is creating serious problems, the costs of raw materials and energy have tripled more than to the fact that there is also a growing difficulty of finding them. The production of microwave ovens, for example, has suffered a sharp slowdown with the stoppage of a line, for the shortage of electronic cards. Thus, instead of being able to keep up with the increased market demand, the company had to reduce volumes. While the production of refrigerators and built-in ovens at the Cassinetta site was cut due to a drop in demand". And it is precisely the collection, which has always had better margins than in the free standing sector, which has begun to experience some slowdown, only partially offsetting the negative signs of free standing.
In Italy the market slows down and penalizes household appliances
And in fact, according to the final balances for the first part of the year, recently communicated by GFK, the sales in Italy of large and small household appliances, after two years of double-digit growth in particular for 2021, respectively recorded a - 0,5 and 0,8 percent instead of an increase in audio-video sales. The consequences of these first slowdown in sales - however common to all European manufacturers - to Whirlpool by Cassinetta have led to an increase in layoffs: a third will be added to the current two weeks with the return from holidays on 29 instead of 22 August.
Very low margins for appliances in Europe
To the uncertainties and the failure, according to the unions, to keep part of the promises (investments in the six Italian sites of 350 million euros were planned for the three-year period 2019-21), were also added particularly harsh conditions in factories of the group due to the unbearable hot summer. The unions have in fact proclaimed protests and strikes. The tensions underway on the EMEA markets, aggravated by growing inflation, also concern other white goods companies since it should be emphasized that European retail - and even more so the Italian one - has always penalized all ranges, with deadly promotions, destroying the value of the products. This progress continues to be reflected in the margins; regardless of volumes, it is always the margins that decide everything and the comparison for Whirlpool Emea is heavy. In the first quarter, the group recorded +16,3 per cent in North America (the main driver of growth), albeit with declining volumes, +7,1 per cent in Latin America, +4,8 per cent in Asia and in Europe – which represents the second market after the domestic one for Benton Harbor – a -2,5 percent, albeit with growing volumes. A growth which should be credited to President Morel.
Whirlpool Emea, chain resignations
To worry the employees was added theacceleration of resignation of considerable caliber starting from the most relevant one, of Yannick Fierling (General Manager Fabric Care Whirlpool) who became president of Haier Europe in 2015. Since then, among the many departures to report that of Pierre Ley (Corporate Communications and Media Relations Manager EMEA Whirlpool) known for having been able to manage difficult passages in the reorganization of the group and one of the very few experts in Europe in crisis communication management.
What the unions fear is that more resignations of this weight will come, while maintaining the Group's technological primacy in Europe and sought-after working conditions which have earned it the Top Employer Europe certification for the fifth consecutive year.
