Groupe SEB (Thailand) Co, the distributor of Tefal appliances, is likely to ask its parent company in France to relocate the production lines of some small appliances to Thailand and other Asean countries.
Country manager Suwasit Wittayawijug said moving some production lines to Asean will increase Tefal's competitiveness in the region and enable the company to respond more quickly to the needs of customers.
If more Tefal products are produced in the region, imports to Thailand will see lower costs, particularly logistics, and this will make prices here more competitive.
Moreover, the Thai company may enjoy zero import tariffs when the Asean Economic Community is launched late this year.
Tefal's three main production bases are France, China and Vietnam.
Most Tefal products sold in Thailand are imported from China and include irons, blenders, non-stick pans and rice cookers, while electric fans and stainless steel pots come from Vietnam.
"Thailand is Asean's largest market for Tefal and the growth of middle-income people will create huge opportunities for our appliances with sophisticated functions," Mr Suwasit said.
Household penetration of small high-tech appliances with sophisticated functions is still low in Thailand.
The plan to produce some small appliances in Thailand is still under a feasibility study, Mr Suwasit said.
Late last week, Groupe SEC launched a computerised rice cooker, the Tefal Spherical Bowl, to cash in on growing demand.
Year-to-date growth of the computerised rice cooker market is 25.6%, the highest in the regular rice cooker segment.
The company has used the single-brand strategy to help consumers remember Tefal easily and strengthen its product portfolio.
Mr Suwasit said the new rice cooker is expected to spur the market in the last quarter as part of its plan for the product to become a top-three brand in the next three years.
"The Tefal Spherical Bowl with spherical heating technology will change the game again in the rice cooker sector to cater to fast-changing consumer needs," he said.
According to GfK, a research company for electrical appliances, the rice cooker market in Thailand is worth 2.45 billion baht, second only to the electric fan market in the small electrical appliances category.
Demand for rice cookers this year has grown by 7% in terms of sales value and by 2% in terms of units.
This shows that Thais are buying rice cookers at higher prices because they want more high-tech features.