AC makers expect easy finance,energy efficiency to drive sales

With mercury set to rise steeply in the coming months, air-conditioner makers such as LG, Samsung, Panasonic and Haier are expecting as much as 30 per cent surge in sales this season on the back of easy financing options and arrival of energy efficient models.
Makers are expecting metros to drive sales and hoping that high-end smart app-controlled units and inverter ACs would contribute up to 15 per cent to their sales.
"Overall, we are targeting 30 per cent and above growth in AC sales," LG India, Business Head AC, Vijaya Babu told PTI.
The makers are also unfazed about the unseasonal rains last month in the Northern region, which accounts around 35 per cent of the total sales of the industry.

"Temporary erratic weather condition in the first few days of March definitely brought down the temperature in North but this year has seen an early onset of summers, right from the month of February and this will bring surge in AC sales across India," said Rajeev Bhutani, Vice President, Consumer Electronics, Samsung India Electronics.
"The industry has seen sustained growth with positive sentiment in the market towards the end of 2015. While metros will sustain the momentum, non-metros will drive penetration in the coming year with easy financing schemes, which give customers the option to upgrade," Bhutani added.

According to President & CEO of Panasonic, India and South Asia, Manish Sharma: "Most of the weather reports predict highest ever temperatures this summer, which is an optimistic sign for the industry."

The companies are also expecting sales to grow in rural areas this season because of pent-up demand and factors such as easy financing schemes.
"In spite of droughts, the demand from rural markets is encouraging... The ratio of urban to rural AC sales is likely to be 60:40 this year," Sharma added.
Besides, makers are also expecting a good contribution to the sales volume from the online channel.
Haier India President Eric Braganza said, "We are looking 30 per cent growth in online sales and we have tied up with leading players such as Snapdeal and Flipkart."
The companies have lined up energy efficient models both in split and widows AC segments although consumers are now preferring split AC because it comes with a latest technology that helps save energy without compromising on cooling.

"We can see a paradigm shift in the consumer behavior, there is a shift or a trend from preferring window ACs to now split air conditioners, earlier the ratio was 50:50, wherein now the trend has skewed towards 70:30 across all the brands or competition," Braganza said.
Panasonic is expecting a good growth in the inverter AC
segment.
"The inverter AC segment has seen a good growth of 27 per cent last year and this trend is likely to continue. The app-controlled unit, which is still at a nascent stage, will grow steadily only in certain metro regions," said Sharma.

To boost sales, makers have started 360 degree campaign on TV, print and other medium.
"Branding and display have been a key initiative this season to highlight the presence at the ground level and the share of spending is 25 to 30 per cent more as compared to the last season," he said.