Premium appliances Godrej Appliances

One of the largest manufacturers of home appliances in India, Godrej Appliances has recently added products for the premium sector to its portfolio. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to business head Kamal Nandi to learn how this strategy has already proved successful.

PREMIUM APPLIANCES

Godrej Appliances was founded in India in 1958 and made the very first refrigerator in India. Steadily growing and developing over the next nearly six decades, the company today is in the top four Indian appliance manufactures.

As part of a 118-year old group, Godrej Appliances has managed to retain the very best of its heritage with a thoroughly modern approach to innovation, development and manufacturing. Business head Kamal Nandi spoke to Industry Europe to explain how this philosophy has characterised the company's success for over half a century. Mr Nandi said, “Our constant endeavour has been to delight consumers with relevant technology that will make their lives brighter. Godrej Appliances was the first Indian company to manufacture refrigerators and has now become synonymous with the category. Godrej has created many milestones in the Indian appliance space – be it in the environment/energy efficiency space or a pure consumer delight space."

The Godrej Appliances product portfolio includes Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Microwave Ovens, Medical Refrigerators and Mobile Food and Beverage Coolers. The Refrigerator segment is Godrej's largest and it offers a wide range of attractive, modern products in frost-free, direct cool and 'American’ style, from 231 litres to 430 litres. Mr Nandi continued, “The Refrigerator segment is very important to us as we have long been a leading name in this field. We continue to innovate and create fresh products across our range, with our state-of-the-art facilities able to manufacture everything efficiently, reliably and effectively.”

Great range

For washing machines, Godrej offers both fully automatic and semi automatic units in a range of attractive colours to suit various interiors. Ranging from large 8kg capacities for families to smaller 6kg machines, they are offered in both front loading and top loading versions. Mr Nandi noted, “Our range of washing machines has been designed with innovative features and avant-garde aesthetics keeping in mind the fast evolving lifestyle of Indian consumers, after a thorough analysis of consumer insights derived through an iterative research process.”

Godrej Appliances' air conditioning units are available as split or window units, with discreet units in 1T, 1.5T and 2T available in white, black and silver. The microwave ovens come as specialist pizza and kebab ovens or convection, grill and solo models.

With innovation playing a key role in Godrej Appliances' success for many years, its latest development is just one initiative in a long line of customer-focused developments. Mr Nandi explained, “We have recently moved into the premium and super-premium segments and this is already proving to be a very successful move. 0ur new NXW range of premium and super-premium refrigerators have been gaining great feedback from our customers.” Time for premium performance

Mr Nandi continued, “For many years we have been largely present in the mid-segment but we identified a good opportunity for making premium products as we were conscious that our customers and potential customers were becoming more discerning and expecting higher performance and greater added value. We therefore moved up to the next level and truly addressed our customers' needs by

creating sub-brand NXW. Earlier this year we launched our new range of premium refrigerators under this sub-brand and gradually we plan to introduce more products from other appliance categories as well. They're great – they offer the best of the very latest technology, the best of additional features and the best of added value for our consumers. We've already had terrific feedback from our customers and we know that this will continue to be an important element of our future growth strategy.”

Godrej Appliances has also recently moved into two new sectors – medical refrigeration and mobile food and beverage refrigeration, with new products and ranges available. Currently the fourth biggest manufacturer of appliances in India, Godrej Appliances is aiming to push into the top three within the next three to four years. Mr Nandi concluded, “Our move into the premium and super-premium segments is certainly a part of this – we're looking to move up the ladder. We also know that our enhanced knowledge of premium products will add further value to our existing ranges, so it's a very positive development. We have invested in our machinery and in training our employees to ensure that we are getting the maximum performance at every stage of the production process.” n