A little bit of history with the major appliance industry;
I remember many, many years back in the very early '70s when KitchenAid ran their magazine ads on their dishwashers, saying that they were made much better than every other brand that was around during that era. Well, they WERE. But only because Hobart had owned the division back then. Their slogan back then was; "KitchenAid: Built better, not cheaper." I had wanted a KitchenAid dishwasher back then so bad. I DID eventually get one in the mid '80s. It lasted for 16 years.
Maytag had based their reputation soley on their then-popular washers and dryers - a reason that their diswashers and garbage disposers were such a big hit back then as well. I've owned a Maytag washer & dryer pair for nine years with absolutely no problems at all. But in recent years, Maytag's reputation began to go south and they were losing big time in sales, profit, as well as their reputation because they had reverted back to making the Norge / Admiral-style washers and dryers, which were nothing but 100% pure junk and nobody liked those models at all. Remember them? So they needed a good strong pumping-up, and the only way to do that was to get out of the major appliance business and sell out, but keep the Maytag name.
Frigidaire appliances, at the time, was made by General Motors. Remember the pulsating agitator in their machines that moved up and down during washing and rinsing? They've now changed hands at least twice that I know of - White Westinghouse (owned back then by White Consolidated Industries, who also made Westinghouse, Kelvinator and Gibson appliances), and now Electrolux Co.
General Electric was still going as strong as ever with their washers and dryers as well as their refrigerators, dishwashers & freezers. The co. ran extensive magazine adds on their dishwashers that featured the Pot Scubber Cycles and even made a guarrantee that if the cycle didn't work like they said it would that you could have the machine picked up and your money happily refunded. GE even threw in a free set of non-stick cookware as an extra added attraction!
Hotpoint was also owned by them, followed later with JC Penny and RCA in the '80s. I once owned a GE dryer.
Not to be left out is Whirlpool (formerly RCA Whirlpool) who's been around since the '50s. Their washers and dryers were also big sellers as is their refrigerators and diswashers. They've made Kenmore (now Kenmore Elte) for many years. Now they make lower cost lest expensive no-frills brands like Roper, Estate, Inglis and the more expensive KitchenAid models and Maytag.
Then there were Speed Queen and Amana - both were owned first by McGraw Edison, and then by Raytheon at one time. Their washers were crap! I had one in the mid '80s to the early '90s that had wimped out and went south. That was when I swithed over to Maytag. Amana is still around, but I think the Speed Queen name has faded in the dust.
I guess that if I were to get another dishwasher or any other major appliance, I'd choose a Whirlpool.
Sears also sells low-end Kenmore major appliances that are Fridgidaire look-alikes. Stay away from these, because like Fridgidaire, these are no good!
