Haier, in Europe design is combined with sustainability

When Neil Tunstall, now CEO of Haier Europe, began his career in the domestic appliance industry, the world seemed to him to be confined to the UK. He worked for a British company that was a leader in the local market, but with exclusively national horizons. "We thought we were the best just because we didn't look beyond," he recounted. The perspective broadened over the years: first Europe, then the US, Russia and finally China. Today he leads a global reality, with a European footprint and an increasingly Italian soul.

Haier, a leading Chinese group in the large household appliances sector, has in fact chosen Italy as the strategic centre of gravity of its presence on the continent. At Roland-Garros - where Haier is an official partner - Tunstall reiterated the key role of our country: 'We are an international company, Chinese, but deeply rooted in Italy. A multinational with European DNA and an Italian head'. Brugherio, in Lombardy, is home to the European headquarters and all the strategic functions: design, marketing, research and development, governance and IT. "Production may follow global logics, but the creative and technological heart is here. We have no intention of moving'.

Design remains one of the pillars of brand identity, especially in the built-in appliance segment. "In other markets, freestanding solutions are tolerated, in Europe they are not. Aesthetic alignment is fundamental, and Italy has a unique sensitivity to the integration of form and function. But innovation does not stop at aesthetics: "A smart product is not enough: it must also be intelligent in its consumption management, integrate with solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, in a simple and intuitive way. This is the logic behind the hOn ecosystem, the connected platform that allows users to manage all Haier devices in a coordinated manner. "But it's not just a matter of controlling the oven remotely. The aim is to optimise consumption, integrating domestic energy production with the daily use of household appliances. The system must beplug & play, understandable by anyone, even those who are not technologically savvy."

The entire IoT ecosystem is designed and managed in Europe, with localised data centres and full GDPR compliance. 'The data does not leave the continent. It is independent of the Chinese and American systems, managed by Italian teams. Trust, today, also goes through here,' Tunstall notes.

For Haier, sustainability does not end with energy efficiency. "We want appliances that consume less and less, thanks to self-production and energy optimisation. But sustainability is also social: it means making technology accessible, useful, not elitist'. This, explains the European CEO, implies specific care for usability, even for non-digital users. "We have teams working on the interface, readability, simplicity. True innovation must come even in mid-range products. If a function really improves life, we have to make it available to everyone'.