Bosch Home Comfort eyes double-digit share in India AC market with dual-brand

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Bosch Home Comfort Group plans to position Hitachi in the mainstream and mass-premium segments and Bosch in the performance-premium and super-premium categories

By PTI

Updated - November 01, 2026 at 04:06 PM. | New Delhi

Bosch would draw on its German engineering heritage and premium brand positioning, and Hitachi would continue to leverage its legacy as a specialist in air conditioning and Japanese engineering excellence.

European heating and cooling solutions provider Bosch Home Comfort Group, which plans to launch Bosch-branded air conditioners next year, is eyeing a double-digit market share over the next two years, said its Managing Director Sanjay Sudhakaran.

The company is targeting to secure a place among the top five brands in the medium term, he added.

Bosch Home Comfort Group, part of German engineering major Bosch GmbH, is accelerating its India expansion strategy through a dual-brand approach. It acquired the global residential and light-commercial air-conditioning business of Johnson Controls and Hitachi in August 2025.

According to the strategy, it is positioning Hitachi in the mainstream and mass-premium segments and Bosch in the performance-premium and super-premium categories to tap different cohorts of the consumer groups, Sudhakaran told PTI in an interview.

Besides, Bosch Home Comfort is strengthening its long-term commitment to India with plans to invest €80 million (around ₹900 crore) over the next few years to expand manufacturing capacity, increase localisation and strengthen its engineering and testing capabilities.

Following the acquisition, Bosch Home Comfort Group took over Hitachi's air-conditioning business in India, where it plans to revamp its portfolio to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing mainstream and mass-premium segments.

Meanwhile, its Bosch-branded ACs will target the niche performance- premium segment, competing with brands such as O General and Mitsubishi Electric, priced at around ₹45,000 to ₹50,000 and above.

"We will position Bosch as a super-premium category and Hitachi as a mainstream category," he said, adding that both brands would have differentiated product portfolios, features and value propositions.

Bosch would draw on its German engineering heritage and premium brand positioning, and Hitachi would continue to leverage its legacy as a specialist in air conditioning and Japanese engineering excellence.

The company is targeting a "strong double-digit market share in India within the next two years" and aspires to become "one of the country's top five cooling and comfort brands in the medium term, he said.

India offers a "tremendous runway for growth" given the low penetration of room air conditioners (RACs), rising disposable incomes and the country's growing economy, he added.

"As a group, Bosch is very bullish about India and especially this business, which is a new baby in the portfolio. The idea is to grow much faster than the market across categories," he said.

Investment of €80 million

The investment will support the company's expansion into light-commercial air conditioning products, including variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems with its Hitachi brand, alongside its residential air conditioning business.

The company is manufacturing the latest range of Hitachi VRF products at its Kadi facility in Gujarat. It has also expanded its global research and development centre in Ahmedabad to focus on light-commercial air conditioning technologies.

It currently has an annual manufacturing capacity of more than 10 lakh air conditioning units at Kadi.

"We will utilise CAPEX in the most sensible methodology that we can, which is grow along with the market kind of a philosophy," he said.

The company may also explore the possibility of setting up a new manufacturing facility in southern India. But Sudhakaran neither confirmed nor denied that Bosch Home Comfort was considering such a move, in line with other air-conditioner manufacturers.

Localisation, integrated manufacturing

Local manufacturing and backward integration will remain central to the company's strategy as it seeks to improve cost competitiveness and expand its product portfolio.

Sudhakaran said around 75 per cent of the company's procurement was from domestic sources, while imports accounted for approximately 25 per cent.

He said the company was among the highly localised manufacturers in the air conditioning industry, with an integrated manufacturing facility that produces several components in-house.

The Kadi plant manufactures heat exchangers, moulds for indoor units, condensing units, sheet metal components, tubing and coils, besides carrying out painting operations.

"What we import today is what is not available in the country," he said, adding that the company had consistently prioritised domestic manufacturing rather than depending on imports when exchange-rate or other macroeconomic conditions made them more attractive.

The company also has access to compressor supplies through a joint venture with a major global compressor manufacturer that operates a plant in Ahmedabad.

Distribution synergies

Bosch Home Comfort India will leverage its existing Hitachi distribution and retail network to support the expansion of both brands, while also exploring opportunities through Bosch's consumer appliances retail footprint.

The company plans to work with the Bosch home appliances business to make Bosch-branded air conditioners available through Bosch and BSH-branded stores.

Large-format retailers, regional retailers and online platforms will remain important distribution channels, with considerable overlap in the customers served by both brands.

Sudhakaran said the company expected to derive synergies across sales and service networks, manufacturing operations, research and development, new product development, supply chain and human resources.

"We will be able to synergise all the backend. On the front end, we will come up with differentiated positioning based on product and features and channel," he said.

Globally, Bosch Home Comfort Group operates a portfolio of brands, including Bosch, Hitachi, York and Buderus, across heating, cooling and comfort solutions.

Published on November 1, 2026

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