Beginning with the window room AC segment-which accounts for 55 per cent of the total organised AC market-the Rs 400-crore company is making an early start with the launch of an entirely new upgraded range of airconditioners. The earlier models of window ACs will be completely phased out. Beginning with a February 2 launch in Chennai-where the first signs of summer set in-the new range will be launched nationally in phases. In Delhi, the range will be launched by mid-February.

Says Anil K Srivastava, managing director, Carrier Aircon Ltd: ``The new products are based on the DFX (designed for extra) philosophy. They will be value-for-money products, with the focus on aesthetics and technology , offering better product efficiency, air quality and many additional features.'' The range will also be across more price bands, with a dip in the price of models at the lower end. At present, Carrier window room ACs in the 1.5 tonne size are in the Rs 22,000-25,000 range.

Simultaneously, as part of a focussed brand building strategy, Carrier plans to run a series of brand and corporate campaigns. The company is hiking its present ad budget of Rs 6 crore by more than double. Bates Clarion-which handles the Carrier account-will be coming out with an ad campaign in the third week of February.

Carrier will also make more `intangible' offerings to customers. Reasons Srivastava: ``The trend nowadays is to attach more value to intangibles. So we intend to offer our consumers intangible values that will help strengthen our brand equity.''

As a beginning, the company has just launched a scheme offering a five-year complete warranty to its consumers. Targeted at the household segment mainly, the warranty will cover all costs at a nominal extra charge. The `no hidden costs' offer is currently applicable to window AC compressors only. Under this scheme, the consumer does not have to pay for refrigerator gas, labour or transportation costs for compressor replacement or repair. Another `intangible' being planned is in terms of service. A national free service camp will be organised sometime in February.

Retail thrust

Carrier will also this year target the retail segment aggressively to increase penetration of the household segment. By the end of the year, it expects to be present in 80 retail outlets across seven metros. Its distribution network currently comprises 40 dealer-owned Carrier Comfort Points, 12 company-owned Carrier Comfort Shops and three Mobile Comfort Vans that cover satellite towns of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

Seeing the success of the mobile vans the company plans to increase these to seven over the next year and a half. Besides direct sales, the vans also help in setting up a database of prospective customers that can be followed up with mailers. It has also helped in generating cold enquiries that often translate into sales. In Chennai, for example, it resulted in the sale of 100 window ACs over two months.

The AC market has been going through a slump in the last two years. With Korean companies like LG and Samsung coming in with their low-price entry strategy, the last two years have seen an unprecedented pressure on margins, and a 10-12 per cent drop in prices. However, this year, with the economy appearing to be looking up, the company expects the industry to grow by at least 15 per cent. Carrier's current overall market share is 25 per cent-down from 30 per cent two years ago-48 per cent in ducted splits, 26 per cent in window room ACs and 17 per cent in central plants.