Electrolux, a major European white goods manufacturer, said it will close its low-end refrigerator manufacturing facilities in Changsha in central China's Hunan province. The move is in-line with the company's repositioning as a vendor of high-end products, said Gunilla Nordstrom, the company's newly appointed China president.

The announcement came after Electrolux said in mid-December of 2008 that it would cut more than 3,000 jobs worldwide to help tide over the global economic recession.

Since entering into the China market in 1997, Electrolux has kept adjusting its China strategy, resulting in an inconsistent brand positioning that has hurt sales.

The company has not made any profit in China.

Nordstrom said from 2009 Electrolux China will focus on the high-end segment of the market and will concentrate on the markets in four municipalities and eight provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi.

(China Daily February 5, 2009)