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Bindu D. Menon

New Delhi, Aug. 10 Automobile majors such as BMW, Volkswagen and Skoda are looking to source leather upholstery for their cars from India. They are currently in talks with Chennai-based Stanley Lifestyle for OEM purchases. Stanley is ramping up its capacity to execute the increased demands.

“We are already supplying to players like General Motors and Ford,” Mr Sunil Suresh, CEO, Stanley Lifestyle Ltd, said, adding that the growth in the automobile segment is also giving a shot in the arm to the upholstery business.

He said the company is in talks with other leading auto players to become an OEM supplier for their upholstery needs.

Further, it is expanding its portfolio from seating to a more comprehensive range in the lobby, office, lounge segments. Stanley is setting up a tannery in a joint venture with an Italian company. This will be housed in Ranipet, the leather hub.

Currently, Stanley procures its range of high-grade, finished leathers from select tanneries from all over the world including Austria, South America, Scandinavia and Asia for making leather sofas and upholstery.

On its retail expansion, Mr Suresh said the company will launch a number of large format lifestyle stores targeted at the aspirational consumer.

The stores will be increased from 10 to 15 by the end of this fiscal and will feature international brands such as Arper, Iterby, Calligaris and La-Z-Boy.

It is also scaling up the licensee agreement with various international players. Currently it has three international brands under its umbrella Sitland, Scandinavian brand Ecoroni and Interstuhl.

“We are in talks with several brands for licensing and manufacturing arrangements. The retail expansion will entail an investment of Rs 50 crore for the fiscal,” Mr Suresh added.

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