NEW DELHI (Kyodo) Pioneer Corp. on Thursday launched a range of products developed exclusively for India's growing automobile market.
"India is an extremely important and strategic market for Pioneer, having a domestic market of more than 1 million new cars. The India-exclusive, superior product lines launched today will help us capture a significant share of the in-car entertainment market," said Kaneo Ito, director and adviser to Pioneer, at an event announcing the products' New Delhi launch.
The product line for India includes the latest models of WMA/MP3/CD players, new GM series amplifiers and speakers for the Indian in-car entertainment market, which is estimated to be worth more than $240 million, the consumer electronics maker said.
Pioneer also announced the signing of a distribution, marketing and service support agreement with Autocorp India Pvty Ltd., the country's leading automotive electronics manufacturer.
"We have customized the Pioneer in-car entertainment systems specifically for our customers in India and we are aiming to capture a significant share of each market segment through (the agreement with) Autocorp in fiscal 2007," said Tatsuo Takeuchi, managing director of Pioneer Electronics Asiacentre PTE Ltd. of Singapore.
Takeuchi did not rule out setting up a manufacturing base in India in the future, although for the moment, Pioneer will concentrate on capturing the Indian market through low cost and high quality.
Pioneer already has manufacturing facilities in China and Thailand.