The local branch of Electrolux Group, the world’s leading home appliances manufacturer, increased both its turnover and number of employees in the first nine months of the year. This came despite the modest performance seen on the home appliances market. Turnover for the Swedish group came close to 3,300bn ROL (almost 80 million euros) in the first nine months of the year, up 14% in ROL from the 2,900bn ROL seen in the same period last year. “Even though the domestic market did not perform very well, we still managed to increase our sales,” explained Carmen Georgescu, marketing manager of Electrolux Romania, adding that the number of employees increased in line with turnover, from the 1,426 in 2003 to a total of 1,530, and that the number of employees may increase still further in the future, depending on what the Swedish group decides about a washing machine factory. ZF