Haier India, a 100% arm of China-based Haier Group, a fairly late entrant into the Rs-35,000 crore consumer durables industry in India, has set high targets for itself. It is eyeing a turnover of Rs 1,700 crore by the FY11-end, from the present Rs 825 crore. Unperturbed by the other majors like LG, Samsung and Sony, Haier is focusing on launching new products with a number of innovations. Eric Braganza, president , Haier India spoke to FE on the sidelines of its dealer?s meet in Goa, on the company?s expansion plans.

Being a Chinese firm, how have you been perceived in the Indian market?

I don?t think being a Chinese brand has harmed the image of the company.

In fact, despite that, we have been able to garner a turnover of Rs 825 crore, which is just over 1% of the total market. We are committed to being among the top five brands in the country in next few years. Our plans are now on course and we are looking at expanding our retail presence and roll out a complete portfolio of products.

How are you taking the expansion plan forward?

In the year 2010, we have grown at a rate of 135%, which has been the value growth in the business. Last year, we spent close to Rs 100 crore in setting up our facility in Pune, where we manufacture refrigerators. This year would be more about the front end. Haier would open 215 new Haier Experience Centres in India, taking the total count to 300 by the end of March 2011. In terms of products and its categories, we have 9 categories and we will scale it up to 11 this year, with a host of products coming into A/Cs, refrigerators, laptops and mobile phones segments. We are the only brand in India that gives a five year warranty.

With expansion in place, what?s the capex for FY11?

Actually, all our dealers have turned their outlets into exclusive branded outlets (EBOs). So every store takes around Rs 15 lakh for the entire set-up (which of course does not include the real estate cost). We have around 25,000 dealership network across the nation and hence, we mark our presence at multi-branded outlets.

Where does advertising and sales promotion (ASP) stand with all this?

Haier for this year has spent a lot on innovations and will continue to do do.

We are going to spend close to Rs 100 crore in ASP in the new innovations for Fy12. This should be about 6-7% of our net sales.