LG Electronics is planning to strengthen its automotive electronics business by forging partnerships with global companies and recruiting professionals.
The company’s move is based on the forecast that the automotive electronics market will grow rapidly to 800 trillion won, six times the current level, in seven years.
LG Electronics wrote an internal report stating that the global vehicle infotainment, e-powertrain, and lighting markets will grow sharply from 143 trillion won to 837 trillion won in 2028.
The e-powertrain market, which includes motors, inverters and reducers for electric vehicles, is expected to grow 33.5 percent annually from 2021 to 2028, while the infotainment and vehicle lighting markets are expected to grow 8.7 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.
Based on these forecasts, LG Electronics will continue to invest aggressively in the VS Business Division, which is in charge of the automotive electronics business.
The company is planning to increase its competitiveness by actively engaging in M&A deals and joint ventures. It acquired Austrian lighting company ZKW in 2018 and established LG Magna Powertrain jointly with Canada’s Magna International in July 2021. It also took ove Cybellum, an Israeli auto security company, in September 2021 to strengthen its software capabilities.
LG Electronics has also been expanding its pool of experts. It has been hiring seasoned workers for the VS Business Division through various channels. It hires people in various fields, including hardware modules and parts such as cameras for self-driving and image signal processors (ISPs), and software to be used for communication modules.
LG Electronics’ cooperation with Korean automobile ecosystems is also on the uptick. The company is known to have set up a task force (TF) within the VS Smart Research Institute to respond to demand from Hyundai Motor Co.
LG Electronics’ active investment has recently led to a series of achievements. In 2020, it established cooperative systems with Volvo, Ford and Stellantis and provided electric parts to Bentley and Porsche. It has recently supplied next-generation infotainment systems for Renault Group’s new electric vehicle model Megan E-Tech.