“Sales that were supposed to start from September have just started his year,” said Bandan Karki of Honda generators. [break]
According to dealers, sales of low capacity generators that are purchased for home use have gone down significantly.
“Sales of high capacity generators have not been affected much because industries buy generators for backup power supply regardless of load shedding duration,” Karki said, adding, “We are expecting the sales to improve from December.”
Dealers say even the demand for high capacity generators have come down particularly because investors are not putting money on new ventures owing to economic gloom. “Because the generators once purchased can be used for decades, we need new industries to boost sales,” said Karki.
Syakar Company, the authorized distributor of Honda generators for Nepal, is selling generators of capacity ranging from 350 VA to 5.5 KVA. The price of these generators ranges from Rs 35,700 to Rs 369,000.
“Sales have come down by 30 percent this season as compared to sales figures during the same period of last year,” Karki said, adding that sales of branded generators have been affected also because of the entry of low quality, non-branded and under-invoiced products in the market.
Syakar Company plans to launch promotional activities in the near future to improve the sales of Honda generators.
Morang Auto Works (MAW) that represents Yamaha and Greaves generators in Nepal is experiencing 60 to 70 percent slump in sales. “Even the sales of industrial generators have gone down by about 40 percent at the moment,” said NK Sharma of MAW.
“The industries that are being established at the moment are usually of small and medium scale. These industries purchase generators not for backup power but to solve power-cut problems,” Sharma said. He said generator sales have not picked pace this year because the country was yet to see heavy power cuts like that of past years.
MAW has been selling Yamaha generators of capacity ranging from 1 KVA to 10 KVA. These generators are priced between Rs 45,000 and Rs 900,000.
Dealers fear they might lose their market to inverters if load shedding duration this year is lower than last year.
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