Washing machine is the only category that has done well this year in the home appliances industry, while industry growth for appliances has been flat, according to the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA).

Lower penetration levels and reduced GST rates from 28 per cent to 18 per cent in July had a positive impact on washing machine sales.

Kamal Nandi, President of CEAMA told BusinessLine that the washing machine category’s growth has exceeded other categories by 7-8 per cent. This category has seen growth in both semi-automatic (3 per cent) and fully automatic (5 per cent) segments.”

Rahul Prithiani, director at CRISIL Research, affirmed that washing machine has been the fastest growing segment among large appliances.

“For fiscal 2019, we expect washing machines to be the fastest growing segment in volume terms among large appliances. Overall, we expect the appliances industry to register a volume growth of 6-8 per cent in fiscal 2019 with washing machines growing at 10-11 per cent year-over-year,” he said.

Nandi attributed higher growth in washing machines to the low penetration level, at 10-11 per cent, and much lower than other appliances like refrigerators (28 per cent) and television (over 60 per cent).

Prithiani said that the impact of the weak rupee was more on ACs and TVs owing to their higher import content, as opposed to its impact on washing machines. He said that since the import content of the washing machine segment has decreased significantly over the years, increase in custom duty on appliances (ACs, refrigerators and washing machines) did not have a major impact on the washing machine segment.

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