With its sleek silver body and advanced anti-vibration suspension, everything about this Porsche product screams luxury built for speed. But the 2018 Alpha isn't a coupé. It's a washing machine designed by the famed sports car maker for Japan's Panasonic. The $2,900 (about R41,000) appliance is available only in China. With an expanding middle class that often likes to flaunt its new wealth, China has become the biggest appliance market for Panasonic outside Japan. But the washers, dryers and refrigerators sold there require ultra-high-end features such as German design or smartphone connectivity that consumers elsewhere might not be willing to pay for, according to Tetsuro Homma, head of Panasonic's appliance division. "Their appetite for consumption is phenomenal,'' the 57-year-old said in a recent interview at the company's Osaka headquarters. "We can't make enough of these washing machines." China's love affair with Japanese consumer goods goes back decades and Panasonic has had...
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