The early arrival of summer and the subsequent heat wave have led to soaring demand for residential air conditioners, with manufacturers such as Voltas, Panasonic, Hitachi, LG and Haier posting record growth sales in April.
The sales have also been boosted by pent-up demand and a low base of April last year when businesses were impacted by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. This year the AC sales have crossed the pre-pandemic levels in April 2019, according to industry players.
"In the month of April 2022, the AC industry has witnessed unprecedented growth over last year, due to a very strong summer, and a low base of 2021. We have witnessed high triple-digit growth across the sector," Voltas managing director and CEO Pradeep Bakshi told PTI.
The company, which is an industry leader, witnessed "unprecedented growth" and almost touched the volume level of April 2019, which was also one of the hottest summers of the decade, he added.
"We are confident that the industry will continue to outperform the last two summers during the rest of this summer," Bakshi said. Similarly, Panasonic India said it has witnessed a "record demand" for air conditioners and sold over 1 lakh units during the
month.
"We have been seeing record demand for air conditioners. This April, Panasonic India sold over 1,00,000 units, a growth of 83 per cent over last April (2021) and a 67 per cent growth over April 2019.