“A question of prestige“

Since when has Bosch been represented in India? How is it represented and by how many employees? Altogether Bosch has been in India since 1922 – that is, for almost 90 years. We have been marketing our professional power tools in India since the fifties of last century, and are the market leader in this segment. Bosch Power Tools employs a staff of around 100 in the distribution business in India, where it has a nationwide network of about 600 dealers. We expanded this organisation two years ago by the addition of about ten employees for local product and brand management, operating area planning and product training for the garden business. When did you plan this move? The decision to launch the garden tools was made at our annual marketing planning meeting with the regions in October 2009. The impulse behind the idea came from our Indian national company. What kind of trading format does Bosch use for marketing its DIY and garden tools in India? We make use of the existing dealer structure through which we market our power tools. Over and above this we are establishing dealers with a special focus on gardening in each of our sales regions. What kind of dimensions are we talking about here, what targets are you aiming for? We started off in a small way, but are noticing an increasing demand for our products in the rapidly growing upper middle class and expect sales in the double-digit millions within three to four years. What are the distinctive features of the Indian market for power tools, where are the differences between it and the developed western markets, or the other markets in Asia? Surely the most significant difference from many industrial countries is that there is no market for powered garden tools in India today. Most gardening work is still done with mechanical tools. That means we have to create a market from scratch by spelling out the advantages offered by our electrical tools. In comparison with other Asian markets, India has a very large and well educated upper middle class, which is extremely interested in technology and innovation and also has an astonishingly high level of purchasing power at its disposal. The lithium-ion models in particular meet both the needs and the Zeitgeist of this target group. Does do-it-yourself actually exist in India? And what does the gardening culture look like? The typical DIYer, who regularly mows the lawn himself, trims the hedges and waters his plants, is a very rare specimen in India. Anyone with…