BENTON HARBOR, Mich.–Whirlpool has opened a joint-venture facility with Hisense Kelon that will manufacture refrigerators and washing machines in China.
The new factory is the result of an agreement reached in April 2008, and is located in Huzhou in China’s ZheJiang province. It will produce high-end, multidoor refrigerators and top- and front-load washers under the Whirlpool, Hisense and Rongsheng brands. The two companies are also sharing research, technology, procurement and development resources to target these products at the Chinese market. Whirlpool currently has more than 20 research-and-development centers throughout the world, including its technology centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shunde and Shenzhen.
In a ceremony that officially opened the plant, Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the new facility will increase the company’s competitiveness and its industrial and commercial footprint in China and the rest of the world.