�Electrolux Kelvinator in revamp mode: The Hindu Business Line, July 25, 2003

�Electrolux in financial trouble: The Times of India, October 27, 2003

�Electrolux eyes turnaround: The Telegraph, January 22, 2004

�Electrolux delists, gains marketshare: The Times of India, February 23, 2005

�Electroloux India CEO Rajeev Karwal quits amid restructuring: The Economic Times, July 2, 2005

�AB Electrolux enters into strategic partnership with Videocon group; moves from subsidiary to licensing model: Press Release, The Electrolux Group, July 7, 2005

These headlines, in a nutshell, tell the Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd (EKL) story in India since the time Rajeev Karwal took over as chief executive officer of the ailing subsidiary of the Swedish white goods company in February 2003. What these headlines do not tell, however, is why the company - which beefed up its product portfolio and distribution (thus reducing the turnover dependence on refrigerators from 96 per cent to 60 per cent), increased its share in almost all the consumer durables segments it is present in, and drastically reduced its losses (from Rs 226 crore in 2003 to Rs 65 crore in 2004, down to Rs 20 crore in the first six months of 2005) - decided to sell out to the Videocon group earlier this month.

The tell-tale signs of trouble were all there. The most obvious, perhaps, was the drastic cut back in mass media advertising over the last one year. (Karwal reportedly didn�t have a brand meeting with his ad agency, Mudra, in the first six months of this year, and the company spent around Rs 10 crore on advertising during this period, compared to the Rs 40 crore it spent in 2004.)

Second, when EKL�s Korean rivals were flooding the consumer durables market with combo deals and freebies, Electrolux placed its bets on product innovation - for example, refrigerators with FM radio (Tamanna), washing machines that give instructions (Washy-Talky) - to offer "value" to its customers. The priorities for EKL were profitability, revenues and marketshare, Karwal had told The Brand Reporter last year (�Can this man revive Electrolux?�, June 1-15, 2004), "rather than market share, marketshare and marketshare like competition" (read LG and Samsung).... more