The ratings on Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool Corp. continue to reflect its strong brand recognition, global leadership position in the mature and concentrated major appliance industry, and geographic diversity. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services believes exposure to deteriorating economic conditions in key markets will continue in the near term. This will hamper the company's ability to meaningfully improve credit measures, even though we believe Whirlpool continues to maintain a leading market share in several major appliance categories across several different geographic regions. Although Whirlpool's top line performance remains soft, declines have moderated somewhat. Sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009 fell by 9%, reflecting continued volume declines in North America and Europe, offset by volume growth in Latin
