Usha International plans aggressive expansion in kitchen and home appliances

In a bid to strengthen its market share, Usha International is gearing up for an aggressive expansion of its appliances portfolio, which will be backed by a strong distribution push especially in the Southern region. The company has also roped in actor Keerthy Suresh as its new brand ambassador to endorse its new range of appliances.

The company is launching as many as 67 new products in the home and kitchen appliances segment which includes gas cooktops, induction cooktops, mixer grinders, rice cookers, wet grinders, air coolers and smart irons, among others.

Saurabh Baishakhia, President - Appliances, Usha International, said, “This is one of the largest product launches done by the company in recent times as we want to become more relevant as a brand across the country. We want to cater to the fast-evolving aspirations of consumers.”

He added that the company will also be leveraging on this portfolio expansion to strengthen the brand’s presence in the appliances segment in the Southern region. “This portfolio expansion will also help us build a stronger presence in the southern market in the segment. We have also roped in actor Keerthy Suresh as brand ambassador for the appliances range,” Baisakhia added.

Usha International is looking at garnering strong double-digit growth in the range of 15-20 per cent in the appliances segment this year.

“We are looking to grow penetration of products in additional towns and retail points. While we will focus on improving our market share in towns with more than one lakh population, we will also be looking at growing our presence in towns with less than one lakh population,” Baishakia added.

Replying to a query on the impact of Coronavirus, he said, “There has been a lot of anxiety in the industry. But we work with a longer lead time and things are taken care of till May. We are not just dependent on China for imports but we have a good import base. We also do almost all our manufacturing locally. But we will review things in the first quarter again.”