By Reed Stevenson and Harro ten Wolde
AMSTERDAM, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp is making a major push to sell its home appliances in Europe, it said on Tuesday, betting that energy-efficient washing machines and refrigerators can pry open consumers' wallets.
Panasonic, well-established as a "white goods" maker in Asia, is hoping environmentally-conscious European consumers will pay a premium for low water and energy consumption, helping it reach a goal of doubling sales in Europe to 80 billion yen ($836 million) in the next five years. "We have the environmental technologies to win in Europe," said Haruyuki Ishio, vice president of Panasonic's home appliances business, noting there was a "strong sense of environmental awareness" in Europe.
Panasonic already sells home appliances such as air conditioners, vacuum cleaners and microwave ovens in Europe but its new products are aimed squarely at long-established European appliance makers such as Bosch, Siemens and Electrolux.
Manufactured in China, the top-end refrigerator is expected to sell for about 1,000 euros ($1,281) while the washing machines are to retail for between 700 and 900 euros.
After introducing washing machines and refrigerators in seven European countries in March Panasonic will expand its European sales footprint to 17 countries by September and plans to introduce further energy-efficient products.
"We will be expanding our line with a range of low-energy appliances," Ishio said, without specifying what new products may be on offer. Panasonic, the world's biggest maker of plasma TVs also sells digital cameras and other digital consumer products in Europe. Panasonic, formerly known as Matsushita Electric before bringing its corporate brands under a single name, is making its push as economic headwinds hurt sales and a stronger yen translates into slimmer profits at home. Earlier this month it warned that it will lose 380 billion yen ($3.97 billion) in the current year ending March 31 and would cut about 15,000 jobs as it grapples with a widening global recession. In Europe economic sentiment hit record lows in January, with the main sentiment index in the 16 countries using the euro dropping to 68.9 points in January, the lowest since records began in 1985.
Even at home, Panasonic is feeling the pinch, urging its own managers and directors to each buy at least 100,000 yen worth of its products to shore up sales.
Panasonic said it plans to start offering washing machines and refrigerators in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands in March.
That will be followed by launches in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in April, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia in May and Italy in September.
Panasonic's home appliances business, which offers tilt-drum washer/dryer hybrids, accounted for 14 percent of its total sales in the last business year ended March 2008. ($1=95.70 yen) ($1=.7804 euros) (Additional reporting by Yumi Horie in Osaka, Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Greg Mahlich)