LG expanding production capacity of automotive biz

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 business report for 2020.

The VS unit, established in 2013, has been beefing up its capacity, targeting advanced markets such as North America and Europe, with a focus on in-vehicle infotainment solutions.

LG, mostly known for its home appliance products, said that sales from the infotainment sector stood at 3.6 trillion won ($3.1 billion) last year, up 12 per cent from a year ago, and accounted for more than 60 per cent of the VS division's total revenues, the Yonhap news agency reported.

LG plans to run its automotive business on three main pillars -- infotainment, powertrain and auto lighting system.

The company recently launched a joint venture called Alluto with Swiss 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 had inked a deal last year with Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. to set up 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 the ZKW Group, an Austria-based firm, which the company acquired in 2018.

Meanwhile, the report showed that 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, which includes his retirement pay of 4.5 billion won.