LG may miss sales target of Rs 20,000 cr

LG India today said it may not achieve the sales target of Rs 20,000 crore that it announced earlier this year due to factors such as a weakening rupee and high raw material prices, and may hike product prices again.

The company, a subsidiary of the Korean consumer durables major LG, said that the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar is putting pressure on its business and it is looking at further price hikes of its products.

"We may not be able to make that (annual sales of Rs 20,000 crore), mainly because of external factors like lower rupee and high commodity prices," LG India Managing Director Soon Kwon told PTI.

"Looks like we may have to make further price increases of our products. We have taken some price hikes recently, but that is not enough," he added.

In the recent past, the firm had hiked prices of its products by around 5 per cent.

The company had reported sales of Rs 16,000 crore last year. It had earlier said that it planned to increase its sales to Rs 20,000 crore by the end of this year.

The company, which today launched a three-day 3D Game Festival here, said the depreciation of rupee is an area of concern and it is likely to go in for further price hikes.

Besides, the company said it will continue to focus on bringing more product innovations and push sales of its premium products like 3D TVs.

Kwon said the firm has lined up a lot of consumer engagement activities for 3D-TVs like the just launched 3D Game festival, which will today hit five markets - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

"We have strong product line-up and aggressive marketing strategy with investment of Rs 100 crore in 2011 for flagship product communication Cinema 3D TV," Kwon said.