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Mr Pradeep Tognatta, , Vice-President - Sales and Marketing, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd (right), with Mr Ajay Bajaj, Product Group Head, at the launch of `A One' range of refrigerators in the Capital on Monday.

NEW DELHI, Dec.16

LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd (LGEIL) on Monday launched a new range of direct cool refrigerators which have been manufactured at the company's new assembly line.

Branded `A One', the product is targeted at the price-sensitive customer and was indigenously developed and manufactured at LG's facility in Greater Noida.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Pradeep Tognatta, Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, LGEIL, said, "The product will be available in the market from January 2. Prior to this assembly line, LG has been outsourcing its direct cool refrigerators. The new line had been set up with an investment of $ 20 million."

The `A One' range would have three categories to cater to different customer segments - A One Plus, A One Gold and A One Platinum. "Across these segments would be two capacity ranges with five variants. The 175-litre capacity will have three variants and 200 litre capacity has two variants," Mr Ajay Bajaj, Product Group Head, Direct Cool, LGEIL, said.

Elaborating further, Mr Bajaj said, "A One range is a combination which will give us a distinct edge in the marketplace and help us increase our market share to 20 per cent from the current 10 per cent in the direct cool category."

The company has set itself a sales target of 5.5 lakh units for the year 2003 and a turnover target of Rs 385 crore from this segment. To sell its product, the company is going to launch a major multimedia campaign in the first week of January 2003. The company proposes to spend Rs 10 crore for the purpose.

LGEIL proposes to end the current year with a turnover of Rs 3,000 crore. For its refrigerators, the company is expecting a decline in prices by 10 per cent to 15 per cent due to higher local content.

Competitive price tag

WITH a clear focus on consolidating its position in the refrigerator segment, LG Electronics, which is already a dominant player in the North, now has plans to strengthen its position in the southern market as well.

Though the company has already set up its assembly line for manufacturing refrigerators in North, it will continue sourcing from its original equipment manufacturers (OEM) such as Voltas for certain strategic markets including South India.

Speaking to Business Line about the proposed pricing strategy for its `A One' range, Mr Bajaj said "The product will be competitively priced and will maintain the value-for-money proposition. The company may just offer its entry-level range of 175 litres at a price of 165 litres available in the market."

At present, the entry-level refrigerators of LG are priced about Rs 1,200 higher than the market leader in the direct cool category.

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