India to be among top three Asian markets for Dior

New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) With French luxury brand Christian Dior Couture (CDC) planning to establish a 51 per cent subsidiary in India, its 'Watches Division' will double its footprint in the country with 35-40 outlets over the next three years.

The Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) group company, with other watch brands like Tag Heuer and Zenith, presently has 18 multi-brand outlets across the country and an exclusive Dior boutique in the national capital.

With none of its markets showing any signs of slowing down, the worldwide CEO of Dior watches Valerie Lachaux believes Dior's positioning as a jewellery brand rather than just a brand of watch has helped it get into the higher-end of the market more easily.

''The Asian market will remain an area of focus for luxury watches. In the last four years since we entered this country, we have posted double-digit growth year-on-year. Dior foresees a big potential here with India among the top three markets in Asia and top seven globally in the next three years,'' the 40-year old CEO told UNI in an interview.

But now that the Centre has partially opened up retail trade to FDI up to 51 per cent, the leather goods, watches and couture apparel company CDC, has made a fresh application to the government for converting its franchisee, called Christian Dior Trading India Pvt Ltd (CDTIPL), into a subsidiary company, according to a report published in Daily News and Analysis last week.

The company has launched its new range of jewellery-studded watches 'Dior Christal' in India priced between Rs 75,000 and Rs 9.50 lakh apiece. ''Since we launched Christal, India has entered the top 10 markets for Dior watches, like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Dubai.'' Refusing to divulge sales figures, Ms Lachaux said since the company launched its high-end Dior Christal range designed by fashion genius John Galliano last year, there has been a big jump in its unit price as the cost of these watches is above Rs 70,000 in the luxury segment.

Talking about global trends, she said the metallic watches business war growing well. ''Gold, iron, platinum is high in demand and the customer is looking for high-end pieces which is why jewellery watches are a growing sector. They give customers flash value for their money, a diamond-studded and diamond dust-coated watch is currently very popular with customers.'' '' Interestingly, in India, it is mostly the Dior's high-end products that are doing well. Customers here are opting more for the expensive varieties than the low-end designs.'' Dior wants to tap a significant share in the 1,000 euros-4,000 euros watch segment and will adhere to its global pricing strategy in India, without hiking the prices further despite high import duties, Dior Regional Manager (South Asia) Shantanu Mukerji said.

''We aim to be a key player in the watch market between 1,000 euros and 4,000 euors with a 10-12 per cent share over the next three years,'' Mr Mukerji added.

In India, the company will look at Tier II cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad besides metros like Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.

UNI