Home appliances major Bosch has shifted focus from the almost saturated West to emerging markets in Asia-Pacific, as “we expect our next phase of growth can come only from this region”, said Gunjan Srivastava, Managing Director and CEO of BSH Household Appliances Manufacturing Pvt Ltd.

BSH Household Appliances is a wholly owned subsidiary of BSH Bosch and Siemens Household Appliances Group of Germany. In January , Bosch bought out its equal joint venture partner Siemens and hence became the sole owner of BSH Household Appliances. (However, it will continue to manufacture appliances under both Bosch and Siemens brands. While Siemens is positioned as a premium brand, Bosch is being positioned as a mid-market brand.)

Following this, it decided to grow its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia, to double its global turnover from the current $3.5 billion in the next 7-8 years. “And among these, India will be our key focus market as market penetration of these product categories are very low here compared with other countries in the region,” he said. As a step in this direction, it recently launched its manufacturing facility at Sriperumpudur near Chennai. It has earmarked roughly ₹350 crore to set up this facility in the next five years. “This is proof enough that Bosch is very serious about this market,” he said.

Production line In the first phase, it built a production line to roll out 3 lakh units of front-loading washing machines a year at the 42-acre plot, since washing machine is the biggest category in India for the brand . It commands a 10 per cent share of the 6-lakh-unit front-loading washing machine market in the country.

It also has a small presence in other product categories such as dish washers, refrigerators, kitchen hobs and grills , and hence will enhance the facility to manufacture most of these products. “At present, we are doing extensive consumer research in these areas to figure out the most suitable design and capability,” Srivastava said.

BSH products are available in over 200 cities in the country through multi-brand retail outlets and exclusive brand stores. It has 20 Siemens and 14 Bosch brand outlets.

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