Daikin eyes Rs 500 cr sales

Daikin Airconditioning India, the wholly owned subsidiary of US $ 6 billion Daikin of Japan, is targeting Rs 500 crore turnover by the end of 2010.

Daikin, which is present in the premium split A-C segment only in India, is hoping to maintain a healthy double digit growth in next few years.

Daikin India posted a turnover of Rs 130 crore in 2004-05.

Managing director Hayashi Toshiki said Daikin was eyeing sales volume of 3 lakh A-Cs per year and that was the critical volume needed to start a production line in India.

Daikin imports products from Thailand at present.

"Sales are growing fast but critical mass is needed to start viable production in India", he said.

The size of the split A-C segment in India was around 3.5 lakh pieces per year at present with the premium segment accounting for around 35 per cent of the split AC sales.

The Daikin MD claimed that the company had around 50 per cent marketshare in the split AC segment and was the leader in the premium segment with sales of around 65,000-70,000 ACs per year.

High-end customers in metros and cities were were opting for premium splits, he added.

Sales growth in the premium split AC segment was around 25 per cent, higher than the average growth of 20 per cent in split AC. The entry level Daikin was priced at around Rs 35,000.