LG Electronics eyes premium market in Saudi Arabia, India

LG Electronics Inc. will seek out new business opportunities as a premium brand in Saudi Arabia for the oil-rich kingdom’s $500 billion Neom megacity project, as well as in India, where the South Korean electronics giant has already built solid brand loyalty, its chief said during his latest overseas business trip.

The Korean appliance major should strive to further enhance its brand awareness abroad with new growth drivers that can innovate customers’ experiences and upgraded strategies for its high-end appliance and tailored customer services, Cho Joo-wan, the chief executive officer of LG Electronics, said during his recent business trips to Saudi Arabia and India.

He especially urged LG employees in the Middle Eastern country to look to various chances to take part in Saudi Arabia’s Neom smart city project, with its leading technologies not only in the general appliance, TV and information technology sectors but also in the mobility, robotics, air solution and commercial display sectors, according to a news release from LG Electronics.

NEOM CITY PROJECT

The oil-rich country is pushing to build Neom, a smart city to be fully run on renewable energy and cutting-edge technologies, in a desert area in the kingdom’s northern Tabuk Province under the direction of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia.

Korea's major business groups, including Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, Hanhwa, CJ and Naver Corp., have been showing keen interest in the megacity project in the Middle Eastern country.

The project is estimated to cost about $500 billion, and the megacity will be comprised of four regions - luxury island Sindalah, 200-meter-wide and 170-kilometer-long eco-friendly metropolis The Line, Trojena to build a mountain sports town and sea-floating industrial city Oxagon.  

The Saudi prince, the country’s de facto ruler, visited Seoul in November last year to tap the Asian country’s investments in the Neom project and signed $30 billion worth of deals with various companies and organizations in Korea.

Cho on Thursday last week visited the Neom City exhibition center in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, to get briefings on investment opportunities in the Neom project.

UNRIVALED NO.1 PREMIUM WHITE GOODS BRAND IN INDIA

The CEO also met LG Electronics employees of the company’s sales and manufacturing operations in India on Tuesday as part of his latest overseas business trip and urged them to further enhance the Korean electronics giant’s brand awareness in the world’s most populous country.

Since the Korean electronics company made inroads into India 26 years ago, it has built not only sales and production entities there but also an R&D center, which have enabled it to become India’s No. 1 premium appliance brand.

“LG Electronics will go all out to solidify its lead with a lion’s market share in India with great growth potential and strategically grow its business in the country,” Cho vowed to LG Electronics employees during his meeting with them in India.

Cho emphasized the importance of nurturing mobility and EduTech businesses as new growth drivers in India while fortifying its premium appliance and TV businesses, country-specific services through localization and online sale capability in the country.

LG Electronics will expand investment to scale up upmarket appliance production from its manufacturing facilities in Greater Noida and Pune this year. The products to be produced from the two factories will be shipped to the local Indian market, as well as countries in the Middle East and Africa.

During his tour of an LG Electronics factory in Greater Noida, Cho inspected the refrigerator, air conditioner and washer lines under transformation into a smart factory.

The Korean electronics giant aims to use 100% of energy resources at its overseas factories as new renewable energy resources.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.