French major Thomson eyes aggressive India expansion; to tap refrigerator market after AC

New Delhi: Talisman Brands-owned French electronics major Thomson, which forayed into the home refrigerator segment on Wednesday, plans to be "more aggressive" in the Indian appliances market, a company official said.

After its success story in the LED TV segment here, in which India became its second-largest market globally after France, Delaware-based Talisman Brands plans to expand into other segments as it believes the average low penetration in India provides a huge runway for growth.

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"India is now part of the fastest growing market over the past several years," Talisman Brands Inc Sales Account Director Sebastien Crombez told PTI.

Though there is a slowdown here, "we still have big hopes for Thomson in India, and this is also the reason why we want to enter into new categories," he said.

"We believe that we could replicate the European success story in the Indian market."

Besides TV, Thomson is present in India in washing machines, air coolers, toasters, irons, and geysers, among others.

It is also selling Laptops in India through the import route.

On whether the brand is hopeful to replicate its success in TV to other categories, Crombez said: "Yes, we are for large domestic appliances, but besides that, we don't have any plan to penetrate further or be aggressive in other segments".

With the refrigerator, Thomson has entered into the compressor-based cooling space.

On its plan to foray into the room air conditioning space, Crombez said: "Maybe in the next 18 months. This will not be immediate, but this is also in the pipeline".

In India, Thomson's brand licensee is Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL). SPPL is currently getting its refrigerators manufactured through an OEM.

SPPL Director and CEO Avneet Singh Marwah said that, as per its strategy, the brand is focusing on affordability and is targeting the gaps in the refrigerator market.

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"We are starting with 100 litres. Most of the brands start from 175 litres. So, 100 litres is a very good category. It's not an entry-level product, but it's ideal for consumers who don't want a larger size, and for B2B sales. Similarly, a lot of companies don't have 195 litres. They have 175 or 185 litres," he said.

According to the Markets and Data report, the Indian refrigerator market is projected to witness a CAGR of 10.91 per cent during the forecast period FY2025-FY2032, growing from USD 2.92 billion in FY2024 to USD 6.70 billion in FY2032.