Energy efficiency is the new magic word in the competition: Gorenje takes first place when it comes to cheap washing machines. Production takes place in Slovenia and now they want to do big business with heat pumps.
The Gorenje brand has been established in Austria for 50 years and has always been known for its favorable price-performance ratio. This was the cost-efficient production location in Eastern Europe. Behind the scenes, however, a lot has happened in the past five years: Gorenje has retained the old name, but now belongs to the Chinese Hisense group.
And this is a giant with a worldwide turnover of 30 billion euros (TV and household appliances). In Europe, production in Velenje, Slovenia, has been greatly expanded and 10,000 people already work there. Internationally, Gorenje ranks third in the TV division behind Samsung and LG and will make a major commercial at Euro 2024.
In Austria, director Andreas Kuzmits is happy with an eight percent increase in turnover in a shrinking overall market. With a turnover of 38 million euros and 60 employees, the goal is to reach the 100 million turnover mark in three years.
And when it comes to cheap washing machines, Austria already ranks first (according to the GfK survey). Gorenje can score points for energy efficiency; those who choose energy efficiency class A can save 75.40 euros per year (at the same rate) compared to other brands (class C, number of washes).
Of course, the ‘premium brand’ Miele leads the way when it comes to top models, but Gorenje is well represented in retail, for example at MediaMarkt, but also in Spar supermarkets.
Gorenje recently started producing heat pumps and the company is already established in low-cost MiniLED technology.
The European headquarters remains in Slovenia, there is nothing to complain about the Chinese owners. Kuzmits, who has previously gained years of experience at Asian companies: “It works perfectly, we have a lot of freedom and we get a lot of material from Austria, for example from voestalpine.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
