Local Heroes

The regional BSH brands embodied the successful concept of the company – cutting-edge technology developed for the needs of customers locally. Regional brands were part of BSH's history from the very beginning. The company's local brands also included Constructa, which became famous for producing Germany's first fully automatic washing machine. Constructa was already part of Siemens when BSH was established, and is today the epitome of high performance and reliability. Modern technology combined with tradition in the claim "Simply well made".

From Europe to the entire world

The success story of the Local Hero brands outside of Germany started with the Greek company Pitsos A.E. BSH acquired a majority share in the market leader for cooling appliances in Greece in 1976.

BSH continued to expand its presence in Europe in the 1980s, acquiring the Balay and Safel brands in Spain in 1988/1989.[2]

Thanks to the excellent potential and promising growth rates of the Turkish home appliance market, the then second largest home appliance provider in Turkey became part of BSH in 1995. The established Profilo brand proved to be extremely popular with customers.[3]

BSH expanded into the American continent in parallel in the 1990s. The Peruvian brand Coldex had been synonymous with quality and tradition for more than 50 years and was optimally positioned to meet the local needs of customers.[4] The Thermador brand also embodied the values of U.S. culture and was synonymous with innovation, performance and timeless design from 1998.[5]

The Spanish small appliances manufacturer Ufesa was also an ideal addition to the company. The brand was acquired by BSH in 1998 – coinciding with the expansion of BSH's Consumer Products division.[6]

Acquisition of the Polish market leader Zelmer in December 2012 allowed BSH to strengthen its presence on the Eastern European market.[7]

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[1]          

[2]           BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 1988, pages 2, 20 and BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 1989, pages 2-3.

[3]           BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 1995, pages 5-7.

[4]           BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 1996, page 8.

[5]           BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 1998, page 6.

[6]           BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 1998, pages 6, 14.

[7]           BSH Corporate Archives, A01-00, Business Report 2012, pages 37, 64 and 117.