Kochi: Blaupunkt, the world leader in car infotainment and sound, is eyeing a 25 per cent growth in its India business this year thanks to signs of revival in the auto sector.
Last year, the company had garnered a sales revenue of Rs 125 crore through its OEM and after-sales market despite the slowdown affecting OEM sales considerably. However, the company managed the situation by focussing on after-sales service, Lars Placke, CEO and Managing Director, Blaupunkt, told Business Line on the sidelines of a function.
Placke was here to inaugurate the company’s first brand shop in India at Kochi which offers the entire product portfolio.
After drop in sales in 2012-13, he said the auto sector has started picking up this year with a visible improvement in OEM sales which is expected to continue.
Today, the company is infotainment partner of choice to leading passenger car OEs, including VW, Audi, Hyundai, and Suzuki, as well as a number of commercial vehicle providers.
Referring to brand shops, he said it would not only provide a platform for Blaupunkt to display its entire range but be the part of the company’s retail expansion strategy to scale up distribution and reach across the country.
The brand shop enables Blaupunkt to get closer to the customer and the company is aiming to launch 20 more stores in main cities in the next two years. These shops would play the role of a support centre for dealers to get more information on the products rather than offering them a competition, he added.
The company, he said, is developing next generation connected car infotainment platforms that enable multimedia, navigation, smartphone integration, 3G/WiFi connectivity, android applications, CAN base vehicle diagnostics, telematics and driver assistance.
Asked why the company has chosen Kerala to set up its first brand shop, Pankaj Jagwani, Director, Blaupunkt India, said that the State is an important market in retail perspective as the customers are more familiar with high-end products, may be because of their connections with Gulf nations.
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