Miele co-owner Marcus Miele has identified “tense market conditions with consumer reluctance, high pressure and geoeconomic challenges” while reflecting on sales that have exceeded five billion Euros for the first time in the company’s history.

The 5.04 billion Euro turnover result for the 12 months ending 31 December was generated from 50 company-owned subsidiaries, over 200 Miele stores and 19 international production sites supported by over 3,000 customer service technicians and 23,500 employees.

In a statement titled “2024: A Year of Challenges – And Opportunities”, Markus Miele provided some commentary on the result and some predictions for 2025.

“Despite tense market conditions with consumer reluctance, high pressure and geoeconomic challenges, we were able to hold our own in the past financial year, with a 1.7 per cent increase in sales over the previous year to 5.04 billion Euros. This is fantastic news, especially as last year was our 125th anniversary,” he said.

Miele also identified other key highlights for 2024 including the production launch at the new plant in the USA, the joint venture with SteelcoBelimed in the medical technology sector, and several products premiering at the leading IFA trade fair in Berlin last September.

“I would like to take this opportunity to once again express my sincere thanks to the entire Miele team for their great efforts and tireless commitment, without which none of this would have been possible,” Markus Miele said.

“2025 will initially be marked by the start of our new Nova Edition washing machines with the world’s first ribless drum, but also our new Guard vacuum cleaner generation. However, I am also looking forward to many other highlights throughout the year, such as appWash, SneakerWash and new appliances and features for cooking, including world first product launches – to name a few. I am confident about the new financial year, despite a challenging environment. With innovative new products and features and a great workforce, we are well positioned for the long term.”

Miele executive director – human resources and corporate affairs, Rebecca Steinhage, commented on the progress within the company’s transformation program announced at the beginning of last year – called the Miele Performance Program (MPP).

“We reacted quickly and decisively to the changed economic conditions,” Steinhage said. “Our goal was to enhance Miele’s competitiveness and to safeguard the company’s long term success. We took the necessary decisions with courage to secure this outcome.” Steinhege confirmed Miele achieved a number of objectives last year: of the planned measures to improve turnover and increase efficiency totalling 500 million Euros, 50 per cent have already been implemented.

“The fact that we were able to rule out compulsory redundancies in Germany was an important success,” she said.

Miele Australia and New Zealand shared a local trading update to 31 December and reported a sales boost by 5.6 per cent in November and December driven by Black Friday sales and promotional periods.

“At Miele, we experienced strong market conditions towards the end of 2024, with positive growth across our appliance categories,” Miele Australia and New Zealand director of marketing, Lisa Saunders told Appliance Retailer.

“Our performance was up 5.6% (for the combined months of November and December) compared to the same period a year earlier, which reflected strong consumer demand for high quality and built-to-last appliances,” Saunders said.