Whirlpool 2006 Annual Report Download - page 12

09
FABRIC CARE
Designed and built in Germany in 2001, the award-winning
Whirlpool Duet fabric care system remains the best selling and
most popular front-loading washer in North America. We also
sell this popular washer in Europe as the Bauknecht Big and
Whirlpool Dreamspace, and, in 2006, we introduced the
Brastemp Duet to Brazil.
This year we expanded our fabric care innovation with the
largest product launch in our company’s history when we
introduced an entirely new line of laundry products in North
America. The result of an intense, in-depth two-and-a-half
year study of consumer needs, these products are designed
to fit different lifestyles. The Duet Sport system is a smaller
version of the original Duet model and the Cabrio is a high-
efficiency washer that can handle three laundry baskets
of clothing in a single load. Like the Duet, the Duet Sport
and Cabrio models use approximately half the water and
energy of conventional top-load washers. Whether it is
a single apartment dweller or a large suburban family,
Whirlpool has the right size and style of washer and dryer
for every consumer.
Not long after we introduced Duet, we responded to consumers’
requests for ergonomic storage by developing the popular
pedestals that fit beneath the Duet. That led us to another
opportunity to better serve consumers. Using our customer-
insight tools to better understand consumers’ laundry space
and laundry process, we developed a new line of innovative
solutions that help make laundry rooms more efficient and
organized. From free-standing storage towers that hold and
hide supplies to work surfaces and retractable shelves to sort,
treat and fold laundry, and retractable hanging rods to air-dry
items, the Laundry 123 suite of customer options helps make
doing laundry easier and more organized.
Duet Sport and Laundry123
Tower Organizers:
Two inches shorter and more shallow
than the original, the Duet Sport
system can handle 12 pairs of jeans
in a single load. The Laundry 123
tower organizers hold and hide all
laundry supplies within easy reach.
Laundry 123 Slide-Out Work Surface:
A unique retractable shelf that fits
between a stacked washer and dryer.
Whirlpool Cabrio Fabric Care System:
A high-efficiency top-load washer that
can handle three laundry baskets
of clothing in a single load. The Cabrio
was rated No. 1 by a leading consumer
magazine.
Maytag Epic Fabric Care System:
The launch of the Maytag Epic system
in 2006 marks a return to the heritage
of quality and performance for which
the Maytag brand is known.