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Krishan Sachdev, Managing Director of Carrier Midea India, has set a three-year deadline for himself to put in place a distribution network (for home appliances) and build brand visibility.
“In the first two years, our focus will be on creating brand visibility and knowledge among potential consumers. In the third year, the focus will be on sales,” he told Business Line .
Carrier Midea India is a 40:60 joint venture set up in February 2012. Carrier is a US air-conditioning major with over 25 years of experience in India, and China’s Midea is one of the largest home appliance makers globally, but only 18 months old in India.
Sachdev says Midea has already leveraged Carrier’s distribution network (around 1,700 distributors) to roll out air-conditioners in 2012. This year, the number of distributors has been increased to 2,000 and work is on to make the ‘Carrier Midea’ brand visible in India.
The joint venture will focus on AC sales under ‘Carrier’ and ‘Midea’ brands in the residential segment; AC (commercial space) and home appliance sales under ‘Midea’ brand in India. The partnership is also for China, Egypt, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Product range
Sachdev is clear that stabilising the Midea brand is a “priority”, market share can come later. Perhaps, this is why Midea, despite being a mid-segment brand, has held back its foray into tier III towns for now.
Strengthening the existing service network is more important than just focussing on volume sales, says Sachdev.
The launch of 24-odd home appliance categories of ‘Midea’ has also been kept on hold. Only two – microwave and water dispenser – have so far been introduced in India this year. Midea’s AC range starts at Rs 20,000; microwave and water dispensers each at Rs 6,000. Its other products include washing machines, fans, water heaters, induction cookers and so on.
“To begin with, we plan to concentrate on ACs and home appliances. There are no immediate plans to launch new products this year,” Sachdev said.
Talks are also on with developers to have pre-fitted apartments with Midea offerings. Pushing institutional sales of ACs is another key area of focus.
Manufacturing
The company’s new manufacturing facility situated at Bawal in Haryana began operations in October with an annual capacity of 700,000 units. The facility, Sachdev expects, will cater to demand for another three years.
“From next year, all Carrier and Midea ACs will be locally produced,” he said. The microwaves and water dispensers will, however, be imported.
The company invested Rs 150 crore in the first yearand will invest another Rs 350 crore primarily on brand-building over the next five years, he said.
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