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Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SSPL), brand licensee for Thomson in India, is set to foray into the consumer appliance segment with the launch of its washing machines range next week. The company is also planning to set up a new manufacturing facility for washing machines in Uttar Pradesh.
Avneet Singh Marwah, Director & CEO, SSPL, said: “We plan to invest ₹1,000 crore in the next five years to build our appliances portfolio. Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, we felt this was the apt time to foray into the washing machines segment, in line with our Make-in-India products strategy.”
The company is set to launch a range of semi-automatic washing machines under the Thomson brand, which will be exclusively sold on the e-commerce platform Flipkart. “For now, we are partnering with Dixon Technologies for manufacturing washing machines. We are seeking clearances for setting up our new manufacturing plant in Uttar Pradesh. We have already acquired the land. We aim to complete the construction of the plant in the next two years. The plant will have an annual capacity of one lakh washing machines,” Marwah said.
European brand, local production
SSPL aims to leverage on the brand equity of a European brand and economies of scale achieved by domestic production. “With the Covid-19 outbreak, consumer behaviour is fast evolving. Consumers today are spending more time at home and doing all the household chores themselves without household help. As consumers seek convenience, we hope to see strong demand from first-time buyers for washing machines. The penetration of consumer appliances in the country is still low,” Marwah added.
“We have seen the entry of new brands in both smartphones and smart TVs segment in the past three years and they have grabbed market share from existing brands. I believe there are similar opportunities for a Made-in-India challenger brand to grab market share in the appliance segment with affordable products,” he added.
“We are aiming to be among the top three online brands for washing machines in the next three years. We will also be looking at foraying into other appliance category in the next five years,” he further said. The company is also ramping up its after-sales network across the country with its washing machines segment entry.
SSPL is the brand licensee for Kodak and Thomson in India and has so far been selling LED TV portfolio under these brands.
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