Turkey’s Arçelik eyes Asian sales of $1.5 bln in five years: CEO

ISTANBUL - Nikkei

Turkish appliance giant Arçelik aims to grow Asian sales to $1.5 billion within five years, CEO Hakan Bulgurlu told The Nikkei in a recent interview on May 30, noting how the global economy’s center of gravity is moving eastward.

A core part of the Koç Group, Turkey’s biggest conglomerate, Arçelik focuses on white goods. Though Turkey and western Europe account for about 70 percent of its sales, the company is looking to step up investment in Asia.

Arçelik announced a joint venture on May 23 with Voltas, India’s top air conditioner maker and part of the sprawling Tata group, marking a full-fledged entry into a market of some 1.3 billion people. The 50-50 venture, capitalized at $100 million, will build refrigerators at a new plant in India and import other appliances from outside the country, selling them through Voltas’ network.

Before this Indian foray, Arçelik completed in 2016 a southern Thailand refrigerator factory that will churn out a projected 250,000 to 300,000 units this year, aiming to tap a market spanning the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The company also bought Pakistani appliance maker Dawlance for $258 million last year.

Arçelik reportedly tendered unsuccessful bids for appliance operations of Toshiba and General Electric. 

The Turkish company will seriously consider buying unprofitable businesses spun off by big Japanese manufacturers in the future, said Bulgurlu, who also noted that it has no interest in televisions.

Decisions will be based on the acquisition target’s market share, brand power, and research and development capabilities in Southeast Asia, he said.