I thought I’d share an interesting headspinner this weekend. My fridge died and I went to go looking to purchase one. I tried finding one that was still made in U.S., but most interesting are that several brands are rebranded from the same manufacturer, and even different brands appear to source parts and manufacturing facilities from some of the other manufacturers.
Looking at GE:
Low tier: made in Mexico
Mid tier/higher tier: made in Korea….
Whirpool:
Low tier: made in Mexico
High tier: found 2 models made in U.S.
KitchenAid: out of my price range (but not made here u.s)
Kenmore: Most fridges are now rebranded LG or Samsung
LG:
Low to mid-tier: made in Mexico (LOL)
High end: made in Korea
Samsung:
Low to mid-tier: made in Mexico (LOL)
High end: made in Korea
So I found that an LG fridge was comparable to the one by Whirpool…Except the LG unit was $800 less, had a generally better compressor (linear compressor) was warrantied for 10 years, and also qualified for the $200 cash for appliances bailout and the $25 energy credit from SDGE (finally, some of that bailout money made it to me :))
I ended up caving and got the LG…Oh well…My dishwasher is a Whirpool, which was also made in U.S….
