Blue Star aims to achieve higher growth than the industry this fiscal and in this summer season as the leading air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration company unveiled a new range of room air-conditioners (ACs) targeted at affordable and premium segments.

The company has been outperforming the industry this fiscal and expects the room AC market to grow at about 20 per cent this Summer amid General Elections. “We have prepared for a higher-than-industry growth of 25 per cent this season. For the full year, we would expect the room AC segment growth at about 15 per cent and Blue Star is targeting 20 per cent growth for FY24,” B Thiagarajan, Managing Director, Blue Star Ltd, said while unveiling the company’s new range of room ACs here.

Growth drivers

The company believes that the market for room ACs is witnessing a strong demand. While burgeoning middle-class consumers with higher disposable incomes are the major drivers, ACs have become more of a necessity now. Blue Star is experiencing demand from first-time buyers, especially in the Tier-2, -3 and -4 markets, as well as the replacement segment.

The southern region remains a major market for the company as it holds about 15 per cent share in the room AC segment in this region. Its all-India market share is 13.75 per cent. The company has planned to reach 15 per cent market share by in FY26. “There is no change in this plan and we are striving to reach this target,” he added.

Blue Star has unveiled new products in 2-star, 3-star, and 5-star variants across cooling capacities from 0.8 tonne to 2.2 tonne at prices starting from ₹29,990. These products come under three categories — flagship, premium and affordable. The company plans to spend over ₹40 crore in advertising during Summer.

“The flagship category of products was introduced recently and this has a share of about 10 per cent in our sales. With strong inroads we made in the last two years, the affordable category accounts for 40 per cent, while the remaining 50 per cent is accounted for by premium products,” said C Haridas, Executive Vice-President - Sales & Marketing and Customer Service, Cooling & Purification Appliances Group (CPAG), Blue Star Ltd.

The company said its Smart Wi-Fi ACs have seen good traction in the market and it is targeting to sell one lakh units in FY24, up from 5,000 units in FY23.

As part of Blue Star’s 80th year celebrations, the company has launched a host of limited-period special consumer offers, which include an 80-month warranty, ₹80 per day repayment facility, ₹680 subsidised installation and several cashback and consumer finance offers on all ACs.

Thiagarajan said the company is likely to end FY24 with total sales of one million units. While the Himachal Pradesh factory is running at its full capacity of six lakh units, the Sri City unit capacity is being expanded gradually to meet the incremental demand. Over the next few years, Sri City factory will reach 1.2 million units.

The company’s share price closed at ₹1,317.05 apiece, up 0.07 per cent on the BSE on Monday.