By Patrick Avenell
Miele Australia has told Current.com.au that it has no immediate plans to introduce its new upright vacuum cleaner to the Australian market.
This new model is being made available to British consumer from next week, and the launch is being supported in the Mother Country by an integrated advertising campaign. Miele Australia product manager – floor care, Kris Ronsmans, said that the decision to launch in Britain, and not Australia, is related to societal trends in the local floorcare market.
“Upright vacuum cleaners are traditionally a classic British product,” he said. “Market figures from GfK Euro7 clearly indicate the dominance of upright vacuum cleaners in the British market with up to 70% of vacuum cleaners being upright models.
“In Australia, the upright market is considerably smaller, barely accounting for 5% of the total market. At this point in time, Miele Australia cannot foresee a rationale for the release the Miele upright vacuum cleaners onto the AUS & NZ market.”
This news may disappoint some Miele chartered agents, as floorcare products have been one of only a few bankable products for retailers. Recent GfK figures show that overall, vacuum cleaners are up 13.8 per cent in units sold and 15.4 per cent in value.