By James Wells
MELBOURNE: Miele Australia has announced the delay of a freestanding steam cooker and a built in coffee machine which will arrive as late as April 2007.
According to a statement issued by the company, the delay has been caused by “circumstances beyond Miele’s control”.
The DG1050 freestanding steam cooker, which was expected to be released this month, will be available to Miele Chartered Agents in April 2007.
The Miele CVA 4060 built in coffee machine will be released in December 2006 instead of October this year.
In June, Miele opened its Gallery showroom at the company’s head office in Knoxfield.
Miele Australia, is one of the top 10 subsidiaries of the German whitegoods specialist, which achieved global sales of $A4.2 billion over the last 12 months.
Miele Australia has turned over on average 15-16 per cent a year every year since launch, and has yet again experienced very strong growth this year.
Under the management of Miele Australia general manager – sales, Martin Carter, the business achieved 27 per cent growth for the first five months of 2006 compared with the first five months of 2005. In the month of May, Miele Australia achieved a company sales record by recording growth of 54 per cent compared to the corresponding month a year earlier.
This growth has been supported by strong sales of cooking products, an increased focus on front loading washing machines following water rebates and drought conditions as well as triple digit percentage growth in vacuum cleaners.
Miele Australia managing director, Michael Jeanes, has confirmed the company will be looking to lift sales in the local market from $160 million to $300 million by 2010.
Jeanes believes there is growth potential in the induction cooking category as well as in the company’s future refrigeration range.
Miele recently received an order for $700,000 from the Australian military for a range of commercial products known as ‘Little Giants’.