Voltas to sell 1 mn ACs this season; forays into air-coolers

Tata Group firm Voltas is looking to sell around one million units of residential air conditioners this year, despite late arrival of summers, on the back of growing demand from tier II and III cities.
The company, which today forayed into the air-cooler segment, is also eying 10 per cent of its revenue to come from the vertical in the next four years.
"We are looking at selling one million units of residential ACs this year. We are seeing demand coming from tier II & III cities," Voltas President and COO Pradeep Bakshi told reporters here.
He added that the company is aiming to sell around 1 lakh units of air-coolers next year.

"We are aiming to be the among the top three brand in the air-cooler segment with target revenue of Rs 150 crore in 3 years," Bakshi said.
Elaborating on the air-cooler segment, he added that the company has introduced products under the range in North India on a pilot basis and would soon extend it to other parts of the country, leveraging its sales network of over 10,000 outlets.

"We have launched air-coolers to bridge the gap between fans and ACs. We are targeting consumers who could not afford ACs and want good air-coolers," Bakshi said.
Voltas has launched a range of four air-coolers priced between Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000.

Bakshi added that by next year, Voltas will increase its product offerings in air coolers to 10 models and also bring down the entry model price to Rs 5,000.
Besides, the company today launched a new range of all weather smart ACs with features like smart (android-based) mobile application and smart sense technology.
Commenting on the overall AC market, Bakshi said the segment is estimated to touch around 3.7 million to 4 million units this season.
The industry would grow by around 10 per cent this season and Voltas would grow above than that, he added.
Voltas is offering 78 variants of split ACs this season.

The company had sales of Rs 5,170.86 crore in FY14 and is continuing a y-o-y growth of 25 per cent.
Apart from residential ACs, the company is also in the field of industrial air-conditioning which contributes around 15 per cent of its sales.