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 consumer electronics company in the United States,” Bitzer added. “We know that the North American business is largely driven by housing and product introductions… housing sales, especially existing homes, are a big component.”
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, like logistics costs and product costs. We're also questioning and working on overall infrastructure costs. Going forward, we're going to simplify 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.