By Chris Nicholls
SYDNEY: Electrolux Floorcare has apparently almost sold out of its Ultra Silencer Green model only two weeks after it went on sale, due to high demand.
Speaking to Current.com.au, Electrolux Floorcare and Small Appliances managing director, John Mahar, said the first shipment had sold out, with the second likely to have already done so.
“Certainly the first one [shipment]; I’m not too sure about the second shipment, but I think it’s probably pretty much gone by now,” he said.
Mahar said the Ultra Silencer Green appealed to the growing number of consumers with a social conscience.
“There are a lot of people in consumer land have a well-developed concern for the environment and energy saving and doing the right thing, so to speak, and this product looks like it’s going to really appeal to them,” he said.
“It’s not just floorcare, it’s a growing thing in more and more categories.”
The Ultra Silencer Green is made from 55 per cent recycled plastic and is itself 90 per cent recyclable, said Mahar.
Its 1,250 W motor also means it uses 33 per cent less energy than a presumably “average” 2000 W cleaner.
Price may also be a factor, with Electrolux deliberately keeping the Green model’s price identical to the non-Green model, despite it being more expensive to make, based on market research.
“The Ultra Silencer Green model is priced at the same level as the regular model is and we’ve consciously done that because certainly the research from overseas indicates one should not try and command a sort of premium for the nature of a product like that, based upon its credentials,” said Mahar.
“‘Don’t penalise me because I’m a greenie’ is some of the feedback we’ve been getting, and it’s a pretty valid point, I think.”