LG Electronics has announced that it will start making electric vehicle components in the US next year. The South Korean tech giant will set up a 250,000-square-foot factory in Hazel Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The company will also expand its U.S. R&D team.
The new LG project is expected to create at least 292 new jobs, including 137 factory vacancies in Hazel Park and 155 engineering and technical vacancies at an expanded R&D center in Troy, Michigan. LG itself will invest about $25 million in the project, while a mount of $2.9 million grant will also be acquired from the Michigan Business Development Program.
Like Samsung, its counterpart rival Korean firm, LG believes that the automotive sector represents stronger potential for future growth than consumer electronics and appliances. LG was intimately involved in the development of the Chevrolet Bolt, designing everything from the battery cells to large chunks of the powertrain and infotainment system. The company was so much involved that insiders nicknamed the car the “LG Bolt.”
In recent years, The burst of electric cars offers more opportunities for close collaboration among automakers. LG already supplies lithium-ion battery cells to 25 automotive brands. It will supply cells for the Faraday Future FF 91 electric SUV (assuming it ever enters production) and is now teaming up with Samsung to provide battery cells for Audi’s e-tron SUV in the near future.
With the sharp increase in demand of automotive batteries, as well as electronic control modules to power more-sophisticated on-board infotainment systems and potential autonomous-driving tech, means companies like LG would seize the golden opportunity and play a more important role as automotive component suppliers. LG seems to be banking on that.
