Senior Changes at Appliance Giants

Electrolux, Whirlpool update org charts

YSN Staff

March winds brought changes among the senior management ranks of appliance powerhouses Electrolux and Whirlpool.

For Electrolux, the leadership lineup now includes Joaquín García Sanchis, who joins the company as global head of design. In his new role, he is responsible for the manufacturer’s overall design vision across its Electrolux, Frigidaire and AEG brands.

García Sanchis brings more than two decades of design experience in the automotive industry, shaping design strategy and innovation at some of the world’s leading car companies, including Volkswagen, Ford and Renault. In addition to his corporate experience, he also founded and led his own design studio. 

In his new post, García Sanchis will lead each of the company’s design teams to ensure “a cohesive creative direction while continuing to elevate design excellence across the organization,” Electrolux said. A native of Spain, he is based at corporate headquarters in Stockholm where he reports to Elena Breda, who was recently named senior vice president of product strategy, innovation, sustainability.

“With his forward-looking design leadership, Joaquín will be instrumental in shaping a distinct and consistent branded design, delivering a seamless end-to-end consumer experience, and translating our brand identity and strategic pillars into clear and distinct visual languages across all brands, products and regions,” Breda said.

García Sanchis’s appointment is part of a major reorganization at Electrolux that included the creation of a chief product position, held by company veteran Michelle Shi-Verdaasdonk, along with a streamlined corporate structure.

See: New Elux Post Has Complete Product Oversight

Meanwhile, former Whirlpool Chief Financial Officer James Peters has resigned from his interim position as executive VP in a non-executive officer role after stepping down as CFO  and president of Whirlpool Asia last fall.

Peters served as Whirlpool’s executive VP, chief financial and administrative officer and Asia prexy for nine years, and for the past four months was tasked with leading the company’s enterprise transformation initiatives. He was succeeded as CFO on Jan. 1 by former company controller Roxanne Warner, while Whirlpool Chairman/CEO Marc Bitzer assumed responsibility for the vendor’s Asia business.

Whirlpool revealed the changes within its senior leadership team in an SEC filing, and described the reorganization as “part of its ongoing talent planning process.”

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