TAG Heuer Plans to Double Watch Stores in India as Luxury Demand Increases
TAG Heuer, the Swiss watch brand owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, plans to more than double its exclusive outlets in India as economic growth and stock market gains spur spending on luxury.
TAG Heuer, endorsed by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, will open 15 showrooms in India in three years, said Manishi Sanwal, general manager of LVMH’s watch and jewelry division in the country. The company, which has six outlets, aims to spend 1 billion rupees ($22 million) for the expansion, he said.
India’s rich are splurging on Mercedes-Benz cars, Gucci shoes and Burberry’s shirts, buoyed by rising stock prices and an accelerating economy. The number of millionaires in the nation rose 51 percent last year, according to a report by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Cap Gemini SA.
The market is growing at about 25 percent “at least for the high-end watches because the base is low,” Sanwal said in an interview in Mumbai today. About 40 percent of the watches are sold in Mumbai and New Delhi, he said.
The Indian luxury market, including cars and jets, is forecast to reach about $14 billion by 2010 end and then double to $30 billion by 2015, consultant AT Kearney predicted in 2007. Daimler AG, the world’s second-biggest maker of luxury cars, expects sales of Mercedes-Benz in India to rival the U.K. within a decade.
The nation’s economy grew 8.8 percent in the quarter ended June 30, the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years. Indian stocks attracted a record $18.5 billion from foreign funds this year, driving a rally that made the nation’s equity index the best performer among the world’s 10 biggest markets.
Hublot, another Swiss watch brand owned by LVMH, plans to more than double its stores in Asia to benefit from the region’s increasing wealth. The Paris-based LVMH is the world’s biggest luxury-goods maker.
To contact the reporters on this story: Malavika Sharma in New Delhi at msharma52@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frank Longid at flongid@bloomberg.net
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