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Hitachi lowers air conditioner prices to push volumes

Last Updated 14 February 2010, 05:11 IST
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The firm's Indian subsidiary, Hitachi Home and Life Solutions India (HHLI) expects to register 30 per cent jump in its air conditioner sales to 1.7 lakh units by the end of this fiscal. It has launched a range of ACs 'Kaze', which start at a price point of Rs 30,000 compared to the existing range, which starts at Rs 39,000.

"For our Kaze range, we have made the prices more competitive. We have made it closer to what is available in the market by our competitors, though we will still remain a player in the premium segment," HHLI Executive Director (Corporate Affairs) Amit Doshi told reporters.

The firm, which sells air conditioners and refrigerators in India in the premium segment, witnessed flat sales last year due to a slowdown in the market. "Our sales have almost been flat, though we did not have any degrowth. We expect that this fiscal, we will be able to register a 30 per cent growth in terms of our AC sales and turnover," he said, adding that the company had sold around 1.3 lakh ACs last fiscal.

Doshi said the company is bullish on clocking good sales this summer season with the introduction of Kaze, which has been designed especially for the India market with an aim to penetrate into the tier II and III cities.

With the introduction of the new range, Hitachi Home and Life Solutions India will also expand its presence to 50 small cities and towns across the country by the end of the year. "We are already present in 125 cities in India. Now our aim is to get deeper into the market and expand our presence to smaller cities like Ajmer, Shillong, Siliguri," Doshi said.

Besides, the company said it has increased its advertising spend by 35 per cent compared to last year and is planning to launch a new marketing campaign soon. "India is one of the focused markets. We are aggressive on augmenting our product sales. We are coming out with our new campaign for the new AC range," he said.

The company sells a total of 86 models of ACs in the country. It recently started its third AC facility in the country in Gujarat, set up at an investment of Rs 50 crore.
Last fiscal, the company had a turnover of nearly Rs 500 crore with the AC business contributing a major chunk to it.

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(Published 14 February 2010, 05:11 IST)

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