Overview

Electrolux AB, commonly referred to as simply Electrolux, is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world’s second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety of brand names (including its own), and are primarily major appliances and vacuum cleaners intended for consumer use. The company also makes appliances for professional use. Electrolux has a primary listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the OMX Stockholm 30 index. The company originates from a merger of two companies—Lux AB and Svenska Elektron AB, the former an established manufacturer and the latter a younger company founded by a former vacuum salesman who had also been an employee of the former firm. The origins of Electrolux are closely tied to the vacuum, but today it also makes major appliances. While Electrolux had bought several companies before the 1960s, that decade saw the beginnings of a new wave of M&A activity. The company bought ElektroHelios, Norwegian Elektra, Danish Atlas, Finnish Slev, and Flymo, et al., in the nine years from 1960 to 1969. This style of growth continued through the 1990s, seeing Electrolux purchase scores of companies including, for a time, Husqvarna. Conversely, Electrolux-made vacuums carried the Eureka brand name, which Electrolux continued to use while also selling Electrolux branded vacuums after 2000. Electrolux USA customer service maintains a database of Electrolux made vacuums and provides a link to Aerus’s website for the convenience of owners of Electrolux branded Aerus vacuums. The company’s current international slogan is ‘Shape living for the Better’. In the past it used to be ‘Thinking of you’. In the 1960s the company successfully marketed vacuums in the United Kingdom with the slogan ‘Nothing sucks like an Electrolux’.