GE to sell refrigerators, washers here

After catering to the Indian industry for decades, the US conglomerate General Electric (GE) is set to tap the consumer here. 

GE Appliances, a consumer brand from the GE stable, is launching its premium appliance range in India. The company would introduce its GE Monogram and GE Profile brands first in South India and then expand to other parts of the country in 6-9 months.

Though the company officials were not willing to disclose the price range, the appliances to be sold would be imported for now. GE has appointed Classic Architectural Solutions and Servomax India Ltd to distribute the products.

“We are very excited about entering the market in India with our top-of-the-line US style large appliances, especially the premium side-by-sides and bottom mount refrigerators along with large-capacity US washers and dryers, offering Indian consumers a much needed upscale alternative to the current range in the marketplace,” Ranjan Damodar, general manager, GE Appliances, Asia Pacific, said.

“While the market appliance industry has shown huge growth in India this is not our target at the moment,” he said.

GE as a group recorded about $70 billion revenue in 2008 with India contributing $3 billion. It was targeting about $8 billion in revenue from India by 2010.

However, GE has now decided to rework the numbers. “We know that India is a promising market.  But these numbers have completely changed now due to the slowdown,” GE India’s CEO Tejpreet S Chopra told DNA.