This undated image from LG Electronics Inc. shows the concept of an autonomous vehicle using the company’s telematics solutions.
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Electronics Inc. is aggressively expanding production capacity of its automotive business, a report showed Tuesday, as the South Korean tech giant focuses on bolstering its future growth engine.
Production capacity of LG’s vehicle component solutions (VS) division, which manufactures telematics and audio-video-navigation components, reached 29.57 million units last year, up from 11.72 million units in 2017, according to the company’s 2020 business report.
The VS unit, established in 2013, has been beefing up its capacity targeting advanced markets, like North America and Europe, with a focus on in-vehicle infotainment solutions.
LG, mostly known for its home appliance products, said sales from the infotainment sector stood at 3.6 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) last year, up 12 percent from a year ago, and accounted for more than 60 percent of the VS division’s total revenue.
LG plans to run its automotive business with three main pillars — infotainment, powertrain and auto lighting system.
The company recently launched a joint venture called Alluto with Swiss-based software firm Luxoft, which will develop solutions for digital cockpit, in-vehicle infotainment, passenger-seat entertainment and ride-hailing systems based on LG’s webOS Auto platform.
In the powertrain sector, LG inked a deal last year with Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. to establish a joint venture, which will produce electric vehicle powertrain parts.
The joint venture, tentatively named LG Magna e-Powertrain, is scheduled to be launched in July.
In the automotive lighting business, LG pins high hopes on ZKW Group, an Austria-based firm, which the company acquired in 2018.
Meanwhile, the report showed LG Electronics CEO Brian Kwon received 1.79 billion won in salary last year.
The company’s former CEO and Vice Chairman Jo Seong-jin was the highest paid executive last year after receiving 6.19 billion won last year, which includes his retirement pay of 4.5 billion won.
(Yonhap)
