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Anticipating an economic slowdown, air-conditioners makers said they had already factored in last summer’s inventory pile-up for this season’s plans.
The consumer durable space has shown a 20 per cent de-growth, largely because of delayed summer, battering air-conditioner sales. Godrej saw a 10 per cent marginal growth in the segment and Whirlpool was down 20 per cent in the April-June quarter.
However, in June, with the onset of the heat wave, Whirlpool’s sales picked up, registering 15 per cent growth.
Mr Shantanu Das Gupta, Vice President, Whirlpool India, says “We could see the slowdown setting in and we began de-scaling in the beginning of the year. We have imported marginally.”
Speaking along similar lines, Mr Kanwal Jeet Jawa, Managing Director, Daikin Air Conditioning India, says, “After the slowdown seen last summer, we brought down inventory.”
However, there was not all gloom-doom in the market, with several manufacturers posting strong results. Daikin’s AC sales grew by 40 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal, with no pile-up of inventory. Panasonic India grew by 101 per cent summer-on-summer and the market leader LG sales grew by 20 per cent. Voltas air-conditioners saw a 18 per cent quarter on quarter growth.
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