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Arcelik, described as Koc Holding's admiral ship, is preparing to bring its durable goods to Turkey under the brand of Blomberg. At press time, the date when the brand will enter the market was still to be determined.
The appliance company is also displaying its recently acquired German Grundig television brand at its Arcelik and Beko stores. These products will be sold at a price 10 percent higher than Arcelik and Beko products. "Arcelik and Beko are brands for the upper income groups in Turkey. When we reoffered Grundig to the market, we wanted it to position it over these two brands," explained Ulku Gunduz Ozdemir, Arcelik general manager.
Beko General Manager Yagiz Eyuboglu added that the Grundig brand will target middle and upper income groups.
Grundig, a popular television brand in the 1980s, has been renewed under the umbrella of Koc. According to Mr. Eyuboglu, sales of Grundig products, which include televisions, radios, video recorders, satellite receivers, and other digital products, exceeded 2 million between May 2004 and March 2005, and more than 1 million of these were in the television group.
He explained the company's 2006 goal is 3 million. The company expects turnover in Europe to increase to 1.2 billion euros (approx. U.S. $1.5 billion) within 4 years.
According to Mr. Ozdemir, the white goods market has not slowed down. "A 60-percent increase was observed in this market last year," he said. "We expect that it will increase especially in autumn, and we hope for a 5 percent increase."
However, the general manager did admit that 2005 has been a difficult year for the appliance sector. "I cannot say that rates of exchange have been favorable," he said. "We expect a return to a positive trend in 2006. Nevertheless, a 40 percent price decrease is quite normal." (Zaman.com)
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