In the 2021 business year the Miele Group reached a sales value of 4.84 billions euro worldwide, a result marking a 7.5% growth on the previous year. With its particularly long-lasting and energy-efficient products, its recent first step towards the use of green steel and CO₂ neutrality at its locations, Miele is further stepping up its efforts towards achieving the goals of the Paris accord on climate change. The growth and efficiency programme Design2Excellence (D2E), with which Miele has completely realigned itself, was brought to a successful close. At the end of the year, a total of 21,921 persons were in the employment of the family-run company, 977 more than in the previous year.
Despite Miele has felt the impact of disruption in worldwide supply chains, in particular with respect to semiconductors, more products were built and sold on aggregate in 2021 than ever before in the German manufacturer’s 123-year history. With sales growth at these levels, the Miele Group has grown considerably faster than the long-term average. This is an accomplishment to which, above all, Eastern Europe, China and the USA made a particularly strong contribution. In Germany, Miele sales hit 1.39 billion euro, increasing by 5.1% at an already very high level.
«Despite the bottlenecks in the supply of semiconductors previously described – Miele explains – sales have developed positively in all product groups, in particular refrigeration, cooking and dishwashing. But also in laundry and floor care and in coffee making, unit sales and turnover are in part significantly higher than in the previous year. This can be ascribed to the above-mentioned boom but also to the attractiveness of the current model ranges and their alignment with the principles of resource conservation and climate protection».
The outlook for the rest of the year, however, is dominated by the political and economic repercussions of the war in Ukraine, where Miele is represented by its own sales company, as is also the case in Russia. The Miele Group has suspended the supply of appliances to Russia above and beyond EU sanctions. This applies with immediate effect and until further notice. Products for the healthcare sector remain exempt inasfar as they are not covered by sanctions. The company’s own shops (Miele Experience Centers) and the webshop were already closed last week. Similarly, investments in the market were frozen. The employment of the more than 230 staff members and their salaries are guaranteed for the next six months at least.
