The Journal interviewed Douglas J. Murdock, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tecumseh Products Company (TPC) LLC on the sidelines of ACREX 2019 in Mumbai. He was accompanied by Jegapriyan Govindarajan, Managing Director, Tecumseh Products India; Robert Terry, Director, Global Product Management, TPC LLC; Hiroshi Saito, Director of Global Marketing, TPC LLC; Ryan Burns, Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology, TPC LLC; and Lionel Audouy, Global Platform Director, Tecumseh Europe Sales & Logistics S.S.S. Here are some excerpts.

Journal: What is the company size in terms of revenues and
manufacturing capacity?
Doug Murdock: Tecumseh is one of the leading manufacturers of hermetic compressors for refrigeration and air-conditioning applications in India and across the world,
with plants in the USA, Brazil, France, India and Malaysia. The company was established more than 85 years ago in the USA and soon emerged as one of the leading compressor manufacturers in the world.
Tecumseh came to India through twin acquisitions of an air conditioning compressor manufacturing facility at Hyderabad, which then belonged to the Shriram Group, and the refrigeration compressor facility of Whirlpool of India.

J: What is the company’s market share?
DM: The company has strong relationships with major OEMs in the air conditioning, refrigeration and commercial refrigeration segments, and has a signifi cant share of the market in each of these segments in India.

J: How many manufacturing units does the company have in India?
DM: Tecumseh has two plants in India at Ballabhgarh near New Delhi and at Hyderabad, Telangana. In addition, we also have an engineering service centre at Hyderabad to provide support on product development to Tecumseh plants globally. We are also establishing a New Global Technology Centre at Ballabhgarh.

J: Who are the key customers of Tecumseh?
DM: Majority of OEMs in refrigeration segments in the India region are our valued customers; we also have signifi cant presence in the distribution market through a network of channel partners.

J: What percentage of its revenue is earned from exports?
DM: Exports account for more than a 3rd of India revenue

J: What is the company’s plan to increase its market share in India?
DM: Being a market leader, Tecumseh is developing products that are energy efficient and with modern technologies. It also has a plan to launch new lines of business, which include compressors with hydrocarbons.

J: How does the company want to increase its size in India?
DM: The company has a clear growth strategy of developing niche markets in the commercial refrigeration segment with new compressor products. A clear plan is also in place to develop customized value- added systems and products in the refrigeration space.

J: What are the new segments that it is focussing on in India and abroad?
DM: Value added systems in commercial refrigeration segment; products with environmentally friendly refrigerants such as hydrocarbons; variable-speed compressor technology; and compressors for electric vehicles and cold chain

J: Would you like to highlight recent initiatives by Tecumseh India?
DM: As part of our Customer Connect initiatives, we have been conducting product awareness and technical training for our channel partners and customers at the Tecumseh University. The University was set up with the objective of sharing industry best practices for application and service of our products. The company has also deployed significant resources in ensuring employee safety, which is a top priority for the company

J: Would you like to comment on your India experience so far?
DM: Tecumseh is fortunate to have most of the leading Indian and global brands as its customers, and we are privileged to partner them in developing effi cient and environment-friendly compressors for the India Region. We also draw on the strength of our channel partners for their inputs on the fast-growing Indian market for a
variety of refrigeration products to develop suitable products.

J: Did you face any problems during operations in the country?
DM: No. Tecumseh was the first Indian company to set up a compressor manufacturing facility for refrigeration compressors that use climate friendly refrigerants.

J: What expectations do you have from the next budget?
DM: We would like to request the government to provide a level playing field so that the negative impact of low price imports is taken care of. While the recent government announcement increasing the import duty by 2.5% is a step in right direction, refrigerators and air conditioners need improvements.