Whirlpool Domestic Appliances

Save time and energy with Whirlpool’s range of appliances. Whirlpool offer great value and lasting quality.

Appliance Manufacturer & Brand Information

Founded in 1911 by Louis, Frederick and Emory Upton as the Upton Machine Company the behemoth of a company went through various changes until 1950 when the Whirlpool name was established.

Whirlpool has annual sales of over $13 billion, 68,000 employees worldwide at nearly 50 different locations, and manufactures appliances under a variety of brands as listed below.

In 1989 Whirlpool acquired the Philips home appliances division and with that Bauknecht giving Whirlpool a springboard into the European market which it has capitalised on ever since. The European division is headquartered in Italy.

After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation became the largest home appliance maker in the world.

In North America, Whirlpool Corporation is headquartered in Benton Harbor in Michigan and manufacturers appliances in the states of Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Whirlpool's best known product is the washing machine, which in the United States is today manufactured in Clyde, Ohio. The Clyde washing machine plant produces about 20,000 top-loading washing machines per day, or a total of about 4.8 million per year. The machines are produced for sale primarily in North America and Australia.

Whirlpool also have an agreement with Fisher & Paykel which allows Whirlpool to sell a re-badged version of the Dishdrawer dishwasher.

Brands That Whirlpool Own: Whirlpool, Bauknecht, Brastemp, Consul, Estate, Gladiator GarageWorks, Ignis, KIC (in South Africa), KitchenAid, Laden (France), Polar, Roper, Speed Queen Mexico (but not Speed Queen in the United States), Maytag, Admiral, Amana (appliances), Dixie-Narco, Hoover vacuums (now sold), Jade, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef

Whirlpool also manufactures under the Kenmore label, (manufactured for Sears, Roebuck and Company). Whirlpool sells more of its appliances under the "Kenmore" name than under its own "Whirlpool" brand in the US.

As the range of brand names would suggest, like other large players in the industry, Whirlpool appears to be spreading across several sectors, from budget appliances right up to the higher end. Bauknecht was supposed to represent Whirlpool in the higher end of the market but appear to be not much more than re-badged Whirlpool products.

The core Whirlpool brand appears to be budget to mid-range except on contract appliances, to kitchen companies, house builders etc. where the products seem stripped out or lower specified and sold on price.

The dust has still to settle on the acquisition of Maytag but it is expected within the industry that Whirlpool will attempt to use the brand as a more upmarket and higher ticket price route to market.