LG to target rural market with 'right' price

LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. is all set to be a market leader in technologically superior electronic products, with focus on the high end products and impetus on quality, service and value for products.

Managing Director of the company Kwang-Ro-Kim said on Wednesday that the company is consciously targeting the quality market and the value market with specific products. "The Indian market, especially the rural market is growing at a very fast pace and LG will target it with high technology products at a reasonable price," Mr. Kim said, adding that the stress is on "reasonably" priced products and not cheap products.

Mr. Kim said the turnover of the company in the country the previous year was Rs 1,000 crores, which has been doubled this current year at Rs 2,000 crores.

The company has already made a mark in the television segment and is all set to capture the home appliances market with refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and other appliances. It is deftly moving ahead of its competitors, Mr. Kim said.

He said the focus is on the high-end products such as 21 inches TV sets, frost free 300 litre capacity refrigerators and washing machines with 6 kg capacity and above.

"We have no intention of taking op the competition in the 14 inch colour TV market, or low capacity washing machines and refrigerators," Mr. Kim said.

The Managing Director said "human touch" is high on the company’s agenda and the product image is based on human aspects and health. "We have the wrinkle free TV, The Golden Eye, which has colours changing according to ambience, we have the "Preserve Nutrition System" or the PNS in our refrigerators with a moisture controller and the plasma conditioners with special features such as bacteria filters in our AC’s," he said.

Mr. Kim views Gujarati customers as most important prospective consumers of the high-end products on offer by the LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. "Gujaratis demand value for money and have a high buying capacity. The turnover of products in the state last year was Rs 70 crores and this year it is Rs 140 crores," Mr. Kim said.

He said keeping in view the high electricity tariff rates in Gujarat, the focus will be to introduce energy saving and eco friendly products.

Mr. Kim said their products are successful also because of quality marketing and swift after sales services offered by the company. "We have quality dealers and quality services and therefore we have quality consumers.

This is our dealers’ and consumers’ perception and not our own. We respond to our customer’s complaints within 24 hours in 95 per cent of the cases," Mr Kim said.

The company already has about 100 service centres in the country to cater to the consumers and it intends to open two more service centres in Gujarat apart from the four centres that already exist in the state.

"It is not just the chic urbane advertisements that set LG apart. Nor is the human touch that the LG products effectively portray. It is the cumulative effect of excellent marketing strategies, great technology augmented by an impressive customer service that sets LG apart for 95 per cent of the complaints the company gets from consumers are solved within 24 hours," he added.

Republished from Asian Age