Leading toy manufacturer, Mattel India has launched the Disney Pixar Cars range for Christmas in India. The Pixar Car range features 14 models based on the characters from the movie like Lightning McQueen, Sally, Mater, the Tow Truck and Doc Hudson amongst others and will be available at a price of Rs 250.
Globally, retail sales of merchandise for the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars have broken all records.
“The Pixar Car range is the second largest brand after Hot Wheels in the boys’ toy category for us. We are hopeful that this range becomes one of the biggest brands for us in India as well,” said Sanjay Luthra, managing director, Mattel India.
The company is test marketing the entire range from scaled-down toy vehicles to playsets like the Mountain Challenge Playset and the Radiator Springs Town Playset Assortment.
“Christmas is a big season for us and based on the response, we will have an aggressive roll out in 2009,” said Luthra who views the market slowdown as an opportunity to gain market share.
To beat the slowdown, Mattel is increasing its investments and expanding its presence. “We are increasing our investments in brand building, promotions and expansions five times over 2008 in 2009,” shares Luthra .
According to industry experts, the organised toy industry growth in India is expected to decline to 20 per cent from 22 per cent in 2009.
However, Luthra’s optimism for faster growth during a market slowdown is based on the fact that smaller companies will exit from the space.
“This year, (the company follows the calendar year as its financial year) we grew by 43 per cent and during a recessionary period, we hope to grow even faster at 56 per cent in 2009,” said Luthra.
