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Consumer appliances major BSH Home Appliances is set to invest ₹150 crore in its washing machine segment this year. The company also announced its plan to shift production of its Bosch-branded top-loading washing machine to India. Alongside this, the company wants to double the capacity of its front-load washing machines to about 6.5-7 lakh units at its Chennai plant.
Neeraj Bahl, MD and CEO, BSH Home Appliances told BusinessLine, that the company aims to become among the top three players in the washing machine segment in the next 2-3 years.
“Top-load washing machines are a significant segment in the country and our made-in-India fully automatic machines have been designed to meet Indian consumer needs. This will help expand our presence in the mass segment. We are also looking at launch of semi-automatic top-loading washing machines by next year,” he added.
BSH Home Appliances aims to double its market share in India’s automatic laundry category with Bosch Top Load washing machines which are being manufactured in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh by a third-party manufacturer. Starting at ₹21,790, the range will be available in 6 and 7 kg variants in 23 models across metro and non-metros.
“At the same time, we are also looking to double our capacity for front-load washing machines at our plant in Chennai from 3.25 lakh units to about 6.5 lakh-7 lakh. Overall, we are investing about Rs 150 crore this year in the laundry business. We expect to see 25-30 per cent growth in the laundry business in 2022,” he added.
The company said despite pandemic-induced restrictions in key cities, it witnessed a 30 per cent growth in January compared to the same period in 2021, signaling an improvement in consumer sentiment. But inflationary pressures remain. “The inflationary pressures in terms of costs of raw materials, crude oil, plastics and freight costs are only worsening. We may need to take a price hike of up to 5 per cent on washing machines from April,” Bahl said.
Meanwhile, the consumer appliances maker is bullish on the summer season with its made-in-India refrigerator range which is set to be formally launched in March. “We were testing our refrigerators in Tamil Nadu since November. Now we are launching the entire range of about 7-8 models in the refrigerators space. These are also being manufactured at our Chennai plant,” Bahl added.
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