To give its India business, particularly the decorative segment, a push, Japan-headquartered Nippon Paint is keenly looking at the southern market.
“The reason for this is we have a factory in Tamil Nadu. Second, we have been present in these markets longer compared to our presence in rest of the country where the brand is in its initial phase,” said Shae Toh Hock, Managing Director, Nippon Paint (India).
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are some of the markets where the company is faring well in the decorative segment, he added. In India, the company is into three segments: decorative, industrial and auto-refinish.
“Industrial is a B2B segment. For us, the automotive refinish segment is more widespread because the scale of business is much smaller compared to decorative,” said Sharad Malhotra, Director, Nippon Paint Auto Refinishes.
The company, which entered India in 2007, generates around 55 per cent of its total business from the decorative segment.
In the auto-refinish segment, the company has come up with a new paint. “It is going to be an eco-friendly product with no harmful chemicals,” said Shae Toh Hock.
To start with, this paint will come from Japan, and in the days to come, the company will look to make it in India.
“Though we see headwinds because of the upcoming elections, we are hopeful of keeping the growth momentum we achieved last year,” added Shae Toh Hock.