On comeback trail, French consumer brand Thomson turns to 'Make in India'

French consumer brand Thomson had made a comeback to the Indian market in April, when it launched three smart television models here. All three models are being manufactured in India by Super Plastronics, with which Thomson has an exclusive licensing agreement.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, Super Plastronics, talks about Thomson's plan to expand its presence in the Indian market.

Following are edited excerpts of the interaction...

Q: Why was Thomson absent from the Indian market for so long?

A: Thomson was one of the top premium CRT brands in Indian early 2000s and we exited on a high. Currently the market in India is growing, especially the Smart TV market segment.

Thomson was one of the first TV brands in the world to launch smart TV so currently we see a lot of opportunity in the Indian market. The kind of response we have received from customers after the launch has been phenomenal. Therefore, we want to penetrate deep towards catering the needs of our customers.

Q: Are high input costs a cause for concern?

A: The kind of government policies that exist in India encourage the Make in India initiative. That is why Thomson TVs are made in India and we completely endorse it.

All the future products will also be Make in India. The custom duty on Completed Built Units (CBU) is 21 percent, whereas if we make in India custom duty will be 7 to 8 percent, so there is a huge saving.  We are backward integrated in terms of manufacturing, including an exclusive mould design for some Thomson television models.

Q: Apart from TVs, are considering an entry into any other segments?

A: Currently we are only focused on televisions and will be expanding our portfolio in televisions only. We will be increasing the number of models. Other than that there are no plans for any other appliance segment.

Q: Are you thinking of increasing prices any time soon? 

A: Nearly 70 percent of the cost of a television set is taken up by panels, which are imported. Hence, with the strengthening of the dollar, we will monitor the price trends and take a call.

Q: Your comeback to India was through an exclusive online sale. Is Thomson open to setting up physical stores as well?

A: Currently, our only focus is online sales. Through this model, Thomson TV is available in 14 thousand pin codes in the country.