Titan's third brand might be Xylys

The Rs 1,000 crore Titan Industries' third major brand might be 'Xylys' after Titan and Sonata. This is expected to address a section of the super-premium category in the Indian market who are increasingly looking at 'Swiss-Made' watches.

This new brand is expected to hit the markets by August of this year. The pricing might be in the range of Rs 10,000 "" Rs 30,000.

Manoj Tadepalli, head-marketing (Titan) opted to offer no comments on the launch of the brand but said that the company is working on a brand to be launched in the segment. Titan's top management had earlier stated that they are looking at this segment.

"There are a whole lot of people in India who are buying imported Swiss watches and this is a target segment for us," they had said.

There is no Indian brand in this segment while the demand in this segment has shown a considerable increase. According to market sources, Titan has been working on the brand for nearly two years.

By launching a brand in this category, Titan hopes to cater to a broader range of consumers. It launched Sonata in 1999 for lower and mid-segment consumers with the aim of increasing ownership levels.

The Titan brand of watches are currently in the price-bracket of Rs 1,000-Rs 7,000 while the Sonata range goes up to Rs 1,000. The company also has a complete gold watch called Nebula under the Titan brand umbrella, which is priced anywhere between Rs 10,000 "" Rs 45,000.

Titan on Monday also announced the launch of its Gold & Steel (part gold and part steel) collection under the Titan brand.

Said Tadepalli: "Aimed to appeal to a broad range of consumers who were earlier opting for gold watches due to lack of alternates, this collection will make a new style statement. This collection is a perfect accessory for formal and festive occasions." This new range has been priced from Rs 1,175 to over Rs 4,600.

The company, for 2003-04, had posted an 80 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 11.1 crore and its total income (net of excise) had increased to Rs 896.9 crore. It expects to close FY05 around Rs 1,100 crore.