Aimed at consolidating its position in the domestic home appliance market, Whirlpool of India has planned to invest Rs.100 crore on innovation to bring more India-specific products across various categories. The company has also launched a new range of refrigerators, air-conditioners and microwaves with innovative features, targeting the leadership position by 2015.
“We would spend Rs.100 crore on research and development initiatives to develop India-specific products. The new products that we have introduced and other innovative appliances that we will launch in the months to come will help us capture leadership position in the Indian market,” Whirlpool of India Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Uppal, who is also the company's President (Asia Pacific), told this correspondent.
Whirlpool of India, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Whirlpool Corporation, has also introduced its new 160 products across six categories — refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners, microwave, water purifiers and built-in kitchen appliances — priced between Rs.10,000 and Rs.1 lakh. The company has chalked out an ambitious Rs.100 crore marketing plan.
“With this launch, we are aiming for leadership in refrigerator and washers in the next 18 months and overall leadership in home appliances in the next three years (2015). We have not only increased our portfolio, strengthening our presence across multiple categories…we have launched premium products to tap growing demand for such products,” Mr. Uppal said.
The Whirlpool's current market share in the home appliances market, estimated at around Rs.35,000 crore, is around 18 per cent and is likely to go up to 25 per cent by the end of 2012.
