![]() ![]() In Figure 1, it's apparent that there's something close to a 60/40 split in the claims payments, in favor of the HVAC manufacturers. Whirlpool makes air conditioners for the window and Lennox makes wood-burning stoves), it's easy to divide them based on their product lines. Top appliance makers include Whirlpool Corp., Jarden Corp., NACCO Industries Inc., and Helen of Troy Ltd. Top HVAC manufacturers include United Technologies Corp., Johnson Controls Inc., and Lennox International Inc. In other words, we split the market into HVAC and appliances. In Figure 1, we've added together the claims payments reported by the 70 companies over the past nine years, dividing them between those that sell systems aimed at heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and those that sell appliances aimed at cleaning and grooming people and their clothing, or cooking and preserving their food. Warranty expenses, as can be seen in the charts below, do not seem to have followed the same pattern as sales, except that the annual changes have been small. ![]() Retail appliance sales are said to have grown slightly in 20 after dipping a bit in 2009. What some might call a lack of progress, others might call a welcome level of stability. And the biggest surprise is that things are not so bad among the Whirlpools and Carriers of the world. Stable or Stalled?īut now we turn our attention to their suppliers, with a report on the makers of appliance and heating/cooling systems this week, and the manufacturers of fixtures, furniture and building materials next week. Some of these companies are in their fifth or sixth year of declining sales, and few expect growth to resume in 2012. Last week, we looked at warranty expense reports in perhaps the grimmest sector of all: new home builders. Now we're wrapping it up with a look at the building trades. Over the past two months, we've taken a tour of the U.S.-based manufacturing sector that began with the battered automotive industry, continued with a look at the relatively stable aerospace industry, and then spent multiple weeks looking at the ups and downs seen in high-tech electronics industry sectors. Based on a compilation of warranty expense reports made by some 70 manufacturers in this sector since 2003, we might even call it a gentle decline. The times aren't very good in the appliance and HVAC industry, but they aren't falling apart either. And given all the financial problems reported by builders lately, merely staying the same looks good in comparison. Appliance & HVAC System Warranties: While they haven't made much progress with warranty cost-cutting, they also haven't seen much increase. ![]()
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