Adidas to launch $1 shoe in India
A father with his son in a shanty village in Faridabad, India.
Adidas is set to launch a $1 shoe to be sold in villages in India.
Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer said the shoe will cost $1 a pair or roughly 52 rupees, AFP reported. The company hopes to rely on mass production of the shoe for India's growing market.
"The shoe will be sold in villages through a distribution network," Hainer told a German newspaper, "We want the product to be self-funding."
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Adidas, the German sports apparel manufacturer, had previously considered selling a similarly priced shoe in Bangladesh. However, Hainer decided it was not profitable there.
"Hainer reported losses in the initial test batch of 5,000 pairs, adding that the shoes cost three dollars to make and $3.50 had to be paid in import duty," according to an article in PSFK.
The company has reported sales growth of as much as 12 percent this year, and it hopes to do better with the plan for India.
"Our brands and products are resonating with consumers around the world like never before," Hainer reportedly said.
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