NEW DELHI: German sportswear and accessories major Adidas Tuesday sought stable import duty rates in India, saying it would help in having "more faith in the market" as frequent changes in tariff hamper future investment planning.
The company, which sells both locally-sourced and imported products, also said making it "too difficult to import" could prevent bringing the best products to India.
"Import duties go up with no notice and you are charged retrospectively and immediately, or back three months. (It is) very had to do business that way because we plan for investment for future," Adidas India MD Dave Thomas told PTI.
He was responding to a query on some of the major challenges faced by the company in India.
Thomas further said, "I think stability on that front would help us to have more faith in the market so that we can invest and be clear on what the future holds for certain degree.
That would be helpful".
In India duties on imports are quite changeable and happens without any warning, making it very difficult for multi-nationals like Adidas, he added.
"We have a good balance of local manufacturing and imports but I think, if you try and make it too difficult to import, it hurts international brands like us," Thomas added.
Such steps, he said, prevents Adidas from bringing "our full story to India".
"We want to bring our best products in and that usually are imported range. India deserves a full story and deserves the best we can bring," he said.
When asked about the company's market expansion in India, he said the drive is on to tap offline to online formats.
Having consolidated its operations in India in the past fews years, Thomas said Adidas is now scaling up retail space in India with plans to add new store, while also expanding existing stores.
"In the last few years, we have definitely focused on getting better and not bigger," he said, adding while some stores have been closed, new ones were also opened.
The company, currently, has 450 stores for Adidas and 220 for its other brand Reebok.
Bullish on the Indian market, he said, "The next two to three years is a journey of much more rapid expansion and growth in channels, which include multi-brand channels, online and brick and mortar format but also in franchise".
The company, which has got license to operate its own store last September has opened four company-owned stores in India so far.
"We should have another four, which would be total eight by beginning of next year," he said.
However, Thomas did not share the number of stores which Adidas is planning for next two to three years saying that it would depend on several factors as availability of right space at right price.
On the marketing and branding front, Adidas is now associating with other forms of games besides cricket, and as part of that has Indian sprinter runner Hima Das as its new face.
"There is change in strategy. Earlier cricket used to be core, but now India is changing and no longer remained one sports country," he said, adding now there is space for sports like soccer and kabbadi.