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Maytag Takes Top-Load Lead: NPD

CLYDE, OHIO —

Whirlpool’s Maytag
Centennial and Bravos X top-load washers
are the two best-selling models in the
hotly contested category.

According to January data from
The NPD Group, Centennial (MVWC400XW)
is the top-selling top-load
washer in the U.S., followed by its Bravos
X (MVWX500XW) production mate,
which is No. 2 in sales.

High-efficiency top-load washers have
become one of the fastest-growing majap
categories now that capacity and water
and energy consumption are rivaling those
of front-load configurations. The latter are
also prone to vibration, industry observers
say, and have been more heavily pricepromoted
than the newer top-load models.

Both Maytag-brand models are manufactured
on a shared production line that
was launched at the vendor’s laundry facility
here last summer. Due to improved
production efficiencies, the platform’s 1
millionth washer was recently assembled
just 35 weeks after production began,
compared with previous product launches
that have taken three to five times longer
to reach the same milestone.

“We removed an assembly line that
had been producing thousands of units
a day for more than a quarter of a century
and re-built it from the ground up,” said
Alan Holaday, Whirlpool’s North America
manufacturing operation VP.

The manufacturing line also produces
Maytag’s newest Maxima front-load
washer (MHW7000X), which uses about
12 gallons of water per load compared to
the 40 gallons used just 10 years ago by
typical top-load models.

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