display
Gütersloh (dpa) - Fridge instead of vacation trip, vacuum cleaner instead of going to a restaurant: The Corona restrictions have brought home appliance manufacturer Miele record numbers.
Last year, the Miele Group had sales of 4.5 billion euros, 6.5 percent more than in 2019, as the premium manufacturer announced on Thursday.
In Germany the increase in sales was even 8.8 percent to 1.33 billion euros.
The number of employees grew by 2.3 percent to almost 21,000. A good 11,000 of them were working in Germany at the end of 2020, about as many as a year earlier.
The family company traditionally does not provide any information on profits.
The pandemic caused a pronounced boom in household appliances.
"People had to - and must - spend a lot more time at home, and instead of spending money on trips and restaurants, for example, they have invested in their four walls," the company said in a statement.
Fridges and freezers for storage as well as vacuum cleaners were particularly in demand.
Miele has also produced record numbers for almost all other products.
Miele's currently probably biggest problem: production can barely keep up with demand.
In some cases, extra shifts were run in the plants and capacities were permanently increased.
Nevertheless, depending on the model, there are currently delivery times of more than six weeks for washing machines, dryers and dishwashers.
display
In the commercial sector, which accounts for around 15 percent of total sales, things weren't quite as outstanding for Miele with a sales increase of 1.8 percent.
There has been a clear reluctance to invest, especially in hotels and restaurants.
On the other hand, there were double-digit growth rates in sales to clinics.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210211-99-400485 / 2