Hyundai Elec eyes premium mart

NEW DELHI: Hyundai Electronics India, the 3rd Korean consumer durables and appliances firm to set foot in India after LG Electronics and Samsung, is adopting a strategy different from its predecessors.
Unlike the route LG and Samsung adopted since the time they kicked off operations in India, Hyundai Electronics does not want to be a price warrior in the Rs 20,000-crore consumer durables market.All Hyundai products will be priced about 10-15 per cent higher than its Korean counterparts.
"Our strategy is not to fight on price. Our focus, instead, will be to penetrate the high-end of the durables market," said Pavan Bhargava, COO, Hyundai Electronics.
Interestingly, this strategy is unlike that of group company Hyundai Motor India, which has been competing on price.
Industry watchers feel Hyundai has adopted this strategy to gain profitability over market share.
While Hyundai has a manufacturing tie-up with Videocon group, the firm has begun scouting for its own manufacturing site in India. "We are currently in the process of identifying a production base in the country. We hope to begin manufacturing locally by 2005-end," said Bhargava.
While Videocon is manufacturing high-end CTVs for Hyundai from its Aurangabad plant, the latter is also importing CTVs from its plants in Korea and China. Refrigerators will be imported from Thailand. Videocon also markets the Sansui and Akai brands in India. Hyundai Electronics has already rolled out flat CTVs, while plasma and LCD TVs, DVDs and home theatre systems are expected to be placed on retail shelves in 2nd week of November.