Whirlpool's 110 year history is rooted in our value-driven commitment to our shareholders, employees, consumers and communities in which we operate.
2020 marked our 14th time on the list in the last 15 years.
We delivered strong organic net sales growth of over 10% driven by solid industry demand across the globe.
Additionally, we delivered ongoing EBIT margin of over 11%, a second consecutive quarter of double-digit margins and a year-over-year expansion of 410 basis points.
We took immediate and decisive action as we announced and executed our $500 million plus cost takeout program.
And structural and sustained positive demand trends and the exceptional execution of our COVID-19 response strategy resulted in record ongoing earnings per share of $18.55, a 16% improvement compared to the prior year, above our previous guidance.
Record ongoing EBIT margin of 9.1%, a 220 basis point improvement and a 25% increase in total EBIT compared to the prior year.
And record free cash flow of approximately $1.25 billion with positive free cash flow in North America, Latin America and Europe.
We reduced our gross debt leverage to 2.3 times making progress toward our long-term target of 2 times.
We delivered a return on invested capital of approximately 11%, representing the fourth consecutive year of improvement as we realize the benefit of continued EBIT margin expansion at an optimized asset base in our Europe region.
In the fourth quarter price-mix delivered 375 basis points of margin expansion, driven by reduced promotional investment and mix benefit as consumers invest in their homes.
Additionally, we delivered on our cost takeout program positively impacting margin by 125 basis points.
Further, reduced steel and resin cost resulted in a favorable impact of 125 basis points.
In North America, we delivered 4% revenue growth driven by continued strong demand in the region.
Additionally, the region delivered year-over-year EBIT improvement of $29 million led by increased demand and strong cost takeout.
Net sales increased 5% with organic net sales growth of 28% led by strong demand in Brazil.
The region delivered very strong EBIT margins of 12% with continued strong demand and disciplined execution of go-to-market actions, offsetting significant currency devaluation.
Based on our internal model for industry and broad economy we expect global industry growth of 4%.
It is with confidence that we provide our '21 guidance, which reflects our fourth consecutive year of record earnings per share and significant top line growth.
We expect to drive net sales growth of approximately 6% as we capitalize on strong demand and share gains in all regions.
Additionally, we expect to deliver above 9% ongoing EBIT margin and deliver free cash flow of $1 billion or more.
Turning to Slide 14, we show the drivers of our 9% plus ongoing EBIT margin guidance.
We expect price mix to deliver approximately 100 basis points of margin expansion through three key initiatives, one, disciplined execution of our go-to-market actions, two, recently announced cost-base price increase in Brazil, Russia, and India and, three, new product launches.
Next, we expect net cost to positively impact margin by 150 basis points.
We expect raw material inflation to negatively impact margin by 150 basis points, led by higher steel and resin cost.
Further, as we continue to invest in the future, we expect increased marketing and technology investments to drive a negative margin impact of 50 basis points, while unfavorable currency, primarily Latin America, expected to impact margin by approximately 50 basis points.
In total, we expect these actions to deliver 9% plus ongoing EBIT margin, an EBIT improvement of over $100 million compared to the prior year.
In EMEA, we expect a continued recovery in the first half of the year to support strong growth, while in Latin America, we expect modest growth of 2% to 4% as the benefits from government stimulus in Brazil are lessened.
Asia industry is expected to accelerate by 6% to 8% as the region rebounds from prolonged shutdowns in 2020.
Regarding our EBIT guidance, we expect very strong margins of 15% or more in North America.
In EMEA, we expect the strategic actions laid out during our 2019 Investor Day to drive EBIT margin expansion of over 250 basis points and a full-year EBIT margin of over 2.5%.
In Latin America, we expect to deliver EBIT margins of 7% or higher.
Lastly, we expect to achieve EBIT margins of 2% or higher in Asia, driven by demand recovery.
We expect another year of very strong cash earnings of approximately $2 billion, driven by sustained EBIT margins.
We anticipate restructuring cash outlays of approximately $225 million primarily due to the impact of COVID-19-related restructuring actions executed in 2020 and the exit of our Naples, Italy operations.
Overall, we expect to drive free cash flow of $1 billion or more as we focus on continuing to deliver record EBIT margin levels and prioritizing our capital investments.
We expect to invest over $1 billion in capital expenditures and research and development, highlighting our commitment to driving innovation and growth in the future.
Lastly, we have a clear line of sight to delivering on our long-term goal of gross debt to EBITDA up 2 times.
In North America, we delivered nearly 16% EBIT margins for the full year, significantly above our long-term margin goal for the region of 13% plus.
And finally, we delivered record free cash flow of $1.25 billion or 6.4% of sales, above our long-term goal of 6% of sales.

Summary:
It is with confidence that we provide our '21 guidance, which reflects our fourth consecutive year of record earnings per share and significant top line growth.
We expect to drive net sales growth of approximately 6% as we capitalize on strong demand and share gains in all regions.
Additionally, we expect to deliver above 9% ongoing EBIT margin and deliver free cash flow of $1 billion or more.
Asia industry is expected to accelerate by 6% to 8% as the region rebounds from prolonged shutdowns in 2020.
Overall, we expect to drive free cash flow of $1 billion or more as we focus on continuing to deliver record EBIT margin levels and prioritizing our capital investments.
We expect to invest over $1 billion in capital expenditures and research and development, highlighting our commitment to driving innovation and growth in the future.
And finally, we delivered record free cash flow of $1.25 billion or 6.4% of sales, above our long-term goal of 6% of sales.