They are merging with Electrolux. I wouldn't let it dissuade you from buying a GE product.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 15:45

To be a little persnickety, GE decided to leave the appliance manufacturing business by selling its appliance making assets to Electrolux. The companies are not merging. GE will continue with its other huge operations in manufacturing and finance.

We had an Electrolux vacuum 50s' 60's, is that the same company?

JWVideo is right, the companies are not actually merging.

Yes this is Electrolux AB of Sweden, the vacuum manufacturer. Back in the 80s they bought Frigidaire to expand into the US major appliance market. More recently they started selling under the Electrolux brand name to try and move upmarket, however these appliances are European in name only, they are designed by Frigidaire engineers and built in North American Frigidaire factories.

The acquisition has not yet gone through officially; that will happen later this year. Electrolux will honor all warranties and support all GE designed and built products.

We don't know anything about plans for their product lines going forward except that they will keep selling appliances under the GE brand name. Most likely some GE products will make their way into Frigidaire and Electrolux lineups, and vice versa. Some factories will probably close, both former GE and Frigidaire/Electrolux.

GE likes to be #1 or #2 in the markets they participate in. GE was a #2 in appliances 20 years ago (to Whirlpool), but lost that position to Electrolux, LG, Samsung, etc as their market share whittled away. I think they were #3 or #4, or at least well down the road to being there, when they finally through in the towel last year.

Unlike the inhalation of Maytag by Whirlpool, where the dust settled in literally a few months, the surviving appliance designs/factories does not yet appear to be worked out, at least publicly.

Laundryvet

I wonder what will happen to GE's service business? I have had very good experiences with GE's service - obviously, not so much with their appliances since I know all about their service! As I understand it GE was the only appliance company that owned their own service business. I found it an advantage because they carried the most commonly replaced parts on their trucks and often can repair the appliance immediately. An independent repair company has to order the part and come back several days later.

It would be awesome if Electrolux kept the service business and expanded to include all their brands.