Samsonite makes India its biggest manufacturing base, domestic travel & weddings to fuel demand

Nashik: American luggage manufacturer Samsonite has made India its largest manufacturing base by tripling the capacity of its plant here to 7 lakh units per month with investment of Rs 250 crore, a top company official said.

Samsonite completed the expansion in two phases post-COVID, after which its Nashik unit has surpassed its other global manufacturing hubs in Hungary and Belgium in production volume.

"We are one of the world's biggest, for the Samsonite group, it's one of the world's biggest factories in terms of the number of pieces that we make here. And it's only going to get bigger and bigger. The world looks to India. Our company also looks to India for a huge amount of growth in the coming years," Jai Krishnan, CEO - India, Samsonite South Asia, told PTI in an interaction here.

Samsonite, anticipating greater demand after a travel boom started post-COVID, is now looking for another location as part of its next phase of expansion within the next 12-18 months. It has started scouting for land in other parts of India as the land parcel at Nashik is fully utilised.

"Till 2019, we used to manufacture approximately on an average about 2,25,000 pieces a month, and that is when we felt that the time had come to focus more on production from India and decided that we would invest and expand," he said.

The company plans to decide on the expansion location within the next 12-18 months, weighing options in North, South, and East India.

However, when the project was being executed, Covid happened in 2020, and business stopped because people stopped travelling and production also stopped.

"But one good thing we did that time was construction, which had just started; we did not stop because we were quite sure that business and the country would bounce back very quickly, which happened," he said.

The company, which is operating with three brands in India - Samsonite, American Tourister and Kamiliant - expects with the supportive tailwinds as rise in economy, increase in disposable income, people are exploring the country, which is creating demand for luggage solutions.

Moreover, affluent people are now gravitating towards branded products such as Samsonite, which always focused on quality, he added.

"So for all our brands, I see steady growth in India for the coming many years. I do not want to put an exact number to it, but I think at least for the coming many, many years," he said.

Currently the US is the lead market for Samsonite, followed by China and India which are at number two and three.

According to Krishnan, India is the third-largest luggage market globally, and the momentum is clearly in its favour. Growth is being driven by weddings, business travel, leisure tourism and increasing mobility among younger consumers from semi-urban and smaller towns.

"That is why the world leader has put its faith in India and not just said it in words but has shown it by putting in money and investments. So India will continue to be a very important part of the company," he said.

After this expansion, Samsonite has also started export, primarily serving internal group companies across regions, including Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

"So 10 per cent of what we produce at Nashik, in the factory, is exported. Till this round of expansion, it was difficult to push for exports growth, because our capacity was constrained," said Krishnan.

Samsonite competes with brand as VIP, Aristocrat, Safari etc along with new age brands as Uppercase, Mokobara etc.

Unfazed from this, Krishnan said "more brands in the business is good for the industry" as every time a new brand enters and invests on communication "they are doing the industry a favour, because they are inspiring some consumer sitting somewhere to think about luggage or think about travel."

The company's endeavour to reach every income group has placed Samsonite in the premium, American Tourister in the mass premium and Kamiliant in the mass segment. In this, Samsonite and Kamiliant contribute around 20 per cent each and rest 60 per cent is by American Tourister, Krishnan said.

Samsonite Group's net sales in India increased by 8.5 per cent period-over-period in the third quarter of 2025, versus a 2.7 per cent period-over-period decrease in the second quarter of 2025.

The American Tourister brand net sales saw growth of 2.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2025. In calendar year 2024, Samsonite's India sales fell 18 per cent to USD 210 million.

Currently, Samsonite's one-third business, around 36 per cent, is from e-Commerce and CSD (Canteen Stores Department) sales.

When asked about online sales, Krishnan said it's currently accounting for about 16 per cent of total revenue, driven by marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart. He expects a further increase in their contribution.

Moreover, Samsonite is also expanding its retail presence and plans to focus on smaller cities, where the aspirational consumers are shifting towards a branded luggage solution.

"Currently, we have about 600 stores nationwide and plan to reach 1,000 stores in the next few years, focusing on small towns and emerging cities," said Krishnan.