The Miele Legend: It's All in the Family

Dr. Markus Miele & Dr. Reinhard Zinkann, Managing Directors, Miele, discuss:

- Malaysia expansion;
- Importance of Malaysia to ASEAN;
- Biggest markets;
- Number of "galleries" around the world -- locations, breakdown by region;
- Upmarket positioning - reasons;
- Why showrooms are called "galleries";
- Whether will ever go downmarket for a less wealthy but far more populous Asian market;
- How design and manufacturing considerations differ for the high-end;
- Extent of quality testing to justify sky-high prices;
- Quality and longevity: feelings on short product cycles;
- R&D issues;
- Whether manufacturing has been outsourced;
- Demand outlook;
- Resilience;
- Profits, revenues, margins;
- Management styles;
- Great grandsons of the founder - management has always passed to the male heirs - fourth generation to be in charge - challenges;
- Succession plans;
- Challenges of appeasing the 56 family shareholders;
- How much longer can this structure be used - plans to institutionalise.