The Hindu Business Line : Whirlpool investing $20 m in product development

The company, which enjoys a 25 per cent share in the refrigerator market in the country, would focus more on innovation in home appliances like washing machines, dryers and air conditioners, Mr Shantanu Das Gupta, Vice-President, Marketing, told newspersons here on Thursday.

"We hope to achieve 27 per cent market share in refrigerators this year while making a firm beginning in the air conditioner segment in which we are a minor player till now," he said, after launching a range of new products.

The company was hoping to break even in 2008. "This year itself, we became profitable at the operational level and confident of making a turnaround in 2008 with net profit,'' Mr Gupta said.

During the first nine months of last fiscal ended December 31, 2006, Whirlpool of India clocked a turnover of Rs 1,245 crore. "The results of the last quarter of 2006-07 will be out soon. On the whole, we are expecting about 20 per cent growth in 2006-07 over previous fiscal," he said.

The company would spend Rs 70 crore on advertising and marketing during the current fiscal, he added.

To expand its product portfolio, Whirlpool launched a range of products. They include `Mastermind' frost-free refrigerator, `Sensation Neo' washing machine, `Magicool' airconditioners and fully automatic clothes dryer.

"We would also launch more new products across of our operational segments this year," Mr Gupta said.

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