The major car manufacturing company in US, Ford Motors is entering in new segment of toys, apparels and accessories. On Monday, the company launched its licensing programme in India that would manufacture and sell products such as toys, accessories, apparel, among other products. The licensing programme in India is in partnership with License India and The Beanstalk Group and is led by US Ford.

The company said: “We want to extend the brand through the licensing programme. It will help in reaching to more consumers as well as creating brand awareness. The first product would be out in  the market in the first half of next year.”

The company boasts of providing the products that are price-competitive and better in quality. 

The President of License India Gaurav Marya said that the apparel such as denim pants and T-shirts with brands like ‘Mustang’ would be much cheaper costing around Rs 500-600 (for pants) as compared to other brands in the market like Lee, Levi’s and Pepe.

He added, “The Indian licensing market is only of around Rs 500 crore, while corporate trademark licensing is still in infancy in the country. Ford's decision to foray into the sector here would certainly be a pioneering effort”.

Moreover, he said related to car accessories, "Ford may find this venture quite successful in car accessories, which is largely unbranded. Also, Ford could be an aspirational brand in car accessories as one does not have to go to traditional crowded markets for accessories.”

Mark W Bentley, Ford Motor, licensing manager (global brand licensing office), “Under this programme, Ford India’s present models such as Ikon, Fiesta, Endeavour and Fusion will also be available in the form of scale models. We will merchandise all the five models (including Figo) of Ford India in these outlets in the form of toys working with Hotwheels toys. Ford also has a global licensing business of around $1.5 billion and India is among the new country on the company's radar after the US, Europe, Mexico and Australia. The company has a portfolio of 350 licensee partners globally”.

The company claims, “India, China and South America are the next big markets with potential for licensing of our brand”.

Related News:
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‘Wake Up Sid’ T-Shirt collection by Provogue
Lifestyle to open 44 new stores in India by 2011

Related Books:
Toy and Games Industry: An Insight
Toys and Games Then and Now
Toys, Games, and Media

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Posted by Naresh Koshti on 9 October, 2009 10:55:21 AM IST #