They entered India more than a decade ago, but a premium positioning made them miss out on capturing the market...

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These days, stories abound of Asian companies giving well entrenched American behemoths a run for their money; both in the US and many emerging markets. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, LG, Samsung, Lenovo and Haier are just a few names, amongst the flurry of Asian brands that are poised to dominate global Inc.

The sorry saga of the American appliance major Whirlpool’s tryst with the Indian market is simply a case under consideration. It entered the market with limitless ambition, underestimated the competition from nimble footed Korean chaebols and ended up with a whimper! A classic case of what happens when an American MNC attempts to spawn a cash cow on wrong notions. Small wonder that in an otherwise burgeoning Indian consumer durables market, despite having the celebrity couple Kajol and Ajay Devgan as brand ambassadors; Whirlpool has a virtually negligible market share in some of the fastest growing product categories (read: ACs & microwaves) in the segment, and is in the red by a whopping Rs.1.05 billion (accumulated losses).

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative