Whirlpool Corporation's (WHR) home appliance portfolio executes on its consumer technology strategy, from washers and dryers to refrigerators and a variety of other kitchen appliances.
Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi joins Whirlpool CEO Mark Bitzer on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the consumer electronics maker's position on inflation and the tightening U.S. housing market.
“This industry is very competitive, and we are the last large appliance company in the United States,” Bitzer said, adding, “We know that our North American business is driven largely by housing and product adoption.” .The sale of homes, especially second-hand homes, is a big factor.”
Citing U.S. existing home sales and mortgage rates, Bitzer said it would take “multiple rate cuts” by the Federal Reserve to deliver widespread relief across the housing sector and consumers. thinking.
“Inflation has been a big issue for a couple of years. Overall, our cost base has increased by almost $2.5 billion. Last year we were able to save $800 million. We are still slightly lower than before. We continue to operate at a high level,'' Bitzer said of the inflationary pressures affecting Whirlpool. “We're working on everything we can right now, including logistics costs and product costs. We're also questioning and working on overall infrastructure costs. Going forward, we're simplifying our business and “We probably don't need more or less of that because we're in the same complex as before. We're tackling costs on multiple levels. Frankly… we don't expect significant deflation. We haven't. We can already do it just by relaxing it.”
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Editor's note: This article was written by luke carberry morgan.
