Fagor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Fagor Electrodoméstico, S. Coop

Former type	Sociedad Cooperativa
Founded	1956
Defunct	November 2013 (2013-11)
Headquarters	Mondragón , Spain
Number of employees	6,000 (2006)
Parent	Amica Group

Fagor Electrodoméstico was a big company that made home appliances. These are things like washing machines, fridges, and ovens. It was based in the Basque Country, Spain. The company was part of a larger group called the Mondragon Corporation. Fagor was Spain's biggest appliance maker. It was also the fifth largest in Europe.

Fagor's Story

Fagor Electrodoméstico started in 1956. It began in a small workshop in a town called Mondragón, Spain. For many years, it was the world's largest worker cooperative. This means the workers owned and ran the company together. It was a key part of the Mondragon Corporation.

At first, Fagor sold its products mainly in Spain. By the late 1980s, it started selling to other countries. These included places in North Africa and Latin America. From 1996 to 2001, Fagor teamed up with other companies. In 1999, it bought a company in Poland called Wrozamet.

A big step was buying Brandt Electroménager in 2005. This made Fagor a top appliance company in France. After this, Fagor was the fifth largest appliance maker in Europe. Only companies like Electrolux and Whirlpool were bigger.

By 2006, Fagor had many factories. It had eight in Spain, four in France, and one in Poland. There was also one in Italy, three in China, and one in Morocco. The company had over 10,000 employees. Its sales were very high, making up 6% of the European market.

Why Fagor Faced Problems

Fagor grew a lot by borrowing money. This was because it couldn't easily get money from other sources. But in 2008, Spain had a big housing crisis. This meant fewer people were buying new homes. So, fewer people needed new Fagor appliances. The main market for Fagor products crashed.

Also, companies from Asia started selling appliances at lower prices. Fagor tried to cut costs and move staff around. But it was still hard to compete.

One reason for Fagor's struggles was how it managed its people. Sometimes, family members of workers were given jobs. Also, new workers didn't always feel like they were part of the cooperative. They worked under strict rules. This led to some workers not showing up for work as often. This was strange for a company owned by its workers.

On October 16, 2013, Fagor Electrodoméstico asked for protection from its lenders. It owed about €1.1 billion. The company tried to get new loans and change its old agreements. But it had lost a lot of money during the European financial crisis.

In November 2013, Fagor's French part, Fagor Brandt, went bankrupt. It had about 1,920 employees. Later, an Algerian company called Cevital Group took it over. Fagor Electrodoméstico in Spain also went bankrupt. A Spanish company called CATA Electrodoméstico (CNA Group) bought it in late 2014. This created 155 new jobs. The German company BSH Hausgeräte also bought FagorMastercook in Poland.

Fagor's Global Reach

Fagor was part of the Mondragon Corporation. This large group includes many different businesses. It has industrial companies, banks, shops, and even a university. The Mondragon Corporation has many assets and a huge workforce.

Fagor itself had grown a lot internationally. It had factories in Europe, America, and Africa. It also had 13 smaller companies around the world. Its products were sold in 80 countries on 5 continents. When Fagor bought the Brandt Group in 2005, it became one of Europe's biggest appliance makers. This deal also brought in other brands like Ocean, SanGiorgio, and De Dietrich.

Fagor America made large appliances, small kitchen tools, and cookware. About 44% of Fagor's sales were outside Spain. Most of these sales were in France, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Morocco, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Brands You Might Know

Fagor sold its products under several different brand names:

See also

In Spanish: Fagor Electrodomésticos para niños