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lee676

Whirlpool is rebranding Bosch dishwashers as Jenn-Air. Why?

lee676
9 years ago

Whirlpool wants us to believe that their KitchenAid brand builds a better dishwasher than Bosch. Whirlpool owns Kitchenaid, but typically sells that brand at higher prices than similar Whirlpool-branded appliances. Whirlpool also owns Jenn-Air, which they position even higher up the ladder than KitchenAid. So I've long been surprised that Jenn-Air's dishwashers had fewer features and lower-quality racks and door handles than KitchenAid's, despite the JA selling at a higher price than corresponding KitchenAid machines.

But now Jenn-Air has done something even more baffling: they've added a new top-of-the-line dishwasher, model JDB9600CW, that is very obviously a rebadged Bosch. And not even a high-end Bosch - it's missing many of the features you'd get in a real Bosch at this price range, amongst them a flexible 3rd rack, a splittable cutlery basket, fold-down tines and cup shelves on the lower rack, and interior lighting. It's also a full 6db noisier.

One has to wonder how confident Jenn-Air is with their own design if they have to turn to what's arguably their strongest competitor to build their most expensive dishwashers. And since Jenn-Air is supposed to be more opulent than KitchenAid, I guess that means Whirlpool is admitting Bosch is effectively two rungs up the desirability scale from KitchenAid.

SMH......

Comments (5)

  • hvtech42
    9 years ago

    I've been told it's mainly due to looks. Bosch's dishwashers mount flush with the cabinetry, Whirlpool's don't. Whirlpool wanted to sell full JennAir kitchen packages but realized that more discerning customers who are spending that much on appliances might not want a dishwasher that sticks out. They must have determined it would be more profitable to buy one from Bosch than design their own.

  • lee676
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That's long been a sticking point with Whirlpool-made dishwashers that use cabinet-panel doors; depending on the cabinetry they are either a tight fit or won't fit flush at all. I would have assumed Whirlpool's European-market dishwashers already have the shallower dimensions and they could have sent one over to the US (the Bosch that Jenn-Air is using is also imported from Germany, or appears to be; it's certainly not the US Bosch design which is about 1-3/8" deeper). Those 'discerning customers' have probably cross-shopped Bosch or Thermador and will recognise the Jenn-Air as being the same thing, only with fewer features. The only rationale I can think of for Whirlpool not importing a Euro model is they'd have to either stock a unique set of parts in the US or make owners wait a long time for repair parts to be shipped from overseas; plus they'd have to train service techs. By rebadging a Bosch they can ue the existing Bosch parts and service infrastructure.

    Still, it feels rather like finding out a new top-of-the-range Cadillac is actually a rebadged BMW, with the explanation that Cadillac simply didn't have a car that fit into a market segment that was becoming popular. Makes me think that management wasn't very prescient about where the market was going.

  • HerrDoktorProfessor
    9 years ago

    Actually car makers do that all of the time.
    The mid-1980s Chevy Nova was actually a Toyota Corolla.

    Saab used to sell a model that was a rebadged Subaru.
    Even Porsche sold cars built by VW and Audi in the past.

    That's to say nothing of the sharing of platforms across makers.

    I do agree with you though the engineering, cost and process to bring a car to the market is much more complex and expensive than a dishwasher.

    What I don't understand is who would buy those rebadged Jenn-Air and Thermador dishwashers with many fewer features at substantially higher prices than their Bosch equivalents.

  • lee676
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I was actually thinking about the "Saabaru" when I made that car reference. It's a shining example of how pretending another manufacturer's product is your own doesn't work. The pathetic attempt to sell rebadged Subarus and Chevy SUVs at a higher price as Saabs didn't fool anybody, and are amongst the reasons Saab is now defunct.

    The '80s Chevy Nova did better because Toyota's small cars had a much better reputation than Chevy did, and because it didn't cost more than the Toyota counterpart. I think the large-scale sharing of parts is more accepted if the higher-priced item is at least made by the same company as the similar lower-priced one, be it Toyota/Lexus or Bosch/Thermador.

  • hvtech42
    9 years ago

    >What I don't understand is who would buy those rebadged Jenn-Air and Thermador dishwashers with many fewer features at substantially higher prices than their Bosch equivalents.

    The main reason is that JennAir and Thermador give you a free dishwasher if you buy their other appliances. People who buy each appliance from a different manufacturer rarely buy JennAir or Thermador dishwashers. Same deal with Gaggenau (Bosch), Dacor (Asko), Viking (Blomberg), and DCS (Fisher & Paykel). Dishwashers from those brands are usually only sold as part of a package.

    This post was edited by hvtech42 on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 15:09