The German sportswear company Adidas will soon start selling its sneakers for a dollar a pair in India. The idea is the brainchild of Nobel Prize-winning micro-finance guru Mohammad Yunus. Despite a similar plan failing in Bangladesh last year, the project in India is to go ahead. Adidas boss Herbert Hainer said India was unlike Bangladesh because it’s possible to mass produce the shoes in India, where the population is booming. Mr Hainer explained what happened in Bangladesh, saying: “We sold 5,000 pairs during a test phase but we made only losses. The shoes cost us three dollars to make and we had to pay $3.50 in import duty.” He believes India will be a whole different ball game. “The shoe will be sold in villages through a distribution network. We want the product to be self-funding,” he said.
No details have been released as to when Adidas will start selling the $1 trainers. Adidas have revealed that its subsidiary Reebok will be responsible for the manufacture and marketing side of the campaign. The rationale for the project is for the company to get a strong foothold in what will be the world’s most populated country. Adidas bosses believe they can get India’s poor to replace their plastic and rubber sandals with shoes made by an iconic global brand, and that this will create a loyal customer base that will reap rewards for decades. It is not the first time India has been used as a testing ground for cheap products. India’s own Tata car maker already produces and sells the world’s cheapest car. The big question in the rest of the world is why Adidas charges $100 or more for its shoes.
Taken from Breaking News English
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