As a Smart Life Solutions Company, LG Showcases Differentiated Mobility Experiences Rooted in Rich Understanding of Customers at Major Mobility Show
MUNICH, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics (LG) today held its first-ever press conference at IAA MOBILITY, one of the world's largest annual mobility sector events. Speaking on the Main Stage (Hall A1) of the Messe München exhibition center, LG CEO William Cho shared the company's perspective on the future of the mobility industry and presented its vision for driving important changes across the entire mobility ecosystem – a goal referenced by LG's press conference theme: "Taking Life's Good on the Road."
LG CEO William Cho at IAA Mobility 2023 press conference.
In July this year, LG announced its vision to become a "smart life solution company" with the aim of connecting and expanding the customer experience to all areas of people's lives. The company followed this up by unveiling ThinQ UP 2.0, a groundbreaking innovation that transforms home appliances into ultra-connected lifestyle solutions. Today, the company introduced its unique and inspiring vision for the future mobility customer experience.
With the automotive industry rapidly shifting toward electrification and autonomous driving, LG has an incredible opportunity to create new customer value in the field of mobility. The car will soon be more than just a means of transportation and, instead, a space offering expanded and differentiated customer experiences.
"LG spent close to 70 years in the consumer-facing business. Throughout this time, we have gained a rich understanding of global customers and their living spaces by endlessly discovering new insights and trends. This eventually turned into various innovations in the customer electronics industry," said CEO William Cho. "With our extensive knowledge and experience in this area, we are excited to present our new take on mobility."
The insight and expertise behind LG's customer experience driven products and services have led to the rapid growth of LG's Vehicle component Solutions (VS) Company. By continuously investing in the VS Company over the course of the past decade, LG has successfully expanded its business into the automotive component and solutions market.
According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, it is estimated that LG accounted for the largest share of the global vehicle telematics market last year, with 23.3 percent. And, since 2021, the company has held a double-digit share of the audio, video and navigation (AVN) segment. These results can be attributed to the recognition and trust the VS Company has earned from major automakers for its differentiated products and services.
Alpha-able: Future Mobility Experience Theme Centered on Customer Experience
LG recently conducted an experiment where it created an environment designed to simulate the interior of an actual autonomous vehicle. Its findings suggested that most people perceive the autonomous vehicle as an exclusive and private space giving them the complete freedom to do what they want, such as play, work and spend some time alone. In-depth surveys show that drivers today hold similar views of their vehicles and the time they spend in them, with 72 percent agreeing that car travel is primarily a time to relax by oneself, and 43 percent calling the vehicle cabin a meaningful personal space.
Based on these customer insights, LG is redefining the car as a "personalized digital cave" and has developed three customer experience themes – Transformable, Explorable and Relaxable – to help it realize its future mobility vision. Collectively, the themes are known as Alpha-able, the company's interpretation of making anything possible.
Transformable Experience: An Environment that Adjusts to Users' Needs
LG believes that the space inside a vehicle should be able to physically transform to suit different situations or purposes; turning into a restaurant to dine, an office to work in or even a movie theatre-on-wheels. To deliver the Transformable experience, the in-vehicle space will become more flexible, offering unique experiences that meet and exceed the expectations of passengers. This concept will be brought to life through LG's innovative display solutions, including transparent, flexible and rollable displays in a variety of form factors, and through its unrivaled home appliance technologies.
Explorable Experience: Reinventing the In-Vehicle Space with Content
LG believes that the car of the future should be able to understand the unique context of each journey, factoring in travel destination, travel duration and other variables to realize a smarter journey complete with tailored content recommendations, and more. LG is confident that the combination of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and eXtended Reality (XR) technology will help it to unlock Explorable experiences sooner, rather than later.
The company's sophisticated AI will elevate the mobility experience to new heights, enabling interactive, in-vehicle voice assistants that take trip duration and destination into account when recommending content to passengers – providing relevant options that can be enjoyed within the estimated travel time. What's more, with augmented reality (AR) technology and windshields incorporating LG's transparent OLED display, passengers can transport themselves from their current location to an entirely different city, or completely transform the look of the vehicle interior.
Relaxable Experience: Presenting More Comfort
Finally, the Relaxable experience will leverage LG's advanced technology and connected services to help customers unwind and treat themselves to some 'me time.' They can enjoy a beautiful virtual garden and take in fresh air in a busy city, a heated massage in their seat while listening to soothing music or an AI counseling session to help them unpack their day. These soothing mobility experiences are being made possible by LG's extensive know-how in home appliances, displays, digital health and other customer-related business areas.
The three experience themes that make up 'Alpha-able' are the pillars of LG's future mobility customer experience. Setting LG apart from its competitors, the experiences aligned under each theme will be realized through the company's innovative customer-centric technologies, services and content.
Three Key Axes of the EV Business in the SDV Era
The mobility industry is currently accelerating toward the era of the software-defined vehicle (SDV). Highly sophisticated electronic devices, SDVs will present new customer experiences in supremely adaptable moving spaces that go far beyond anything that exists now. In preparation for this fast-approaching era, LG is developing customer-specific designs to facilitate differentiated customer experiences in the future mobility environment.
LG's mobility business centers on three major axes: in-vehicle infotainment systems produced by the VS Company; electric powertrain systems developed by LG Magna e-Powertrain (LG Magna), a joint venture between LG and Magna International; and vehicle lighting systems developed by LG's subsidiary, ZKW Group. With its various business arms, LG has considerable strength in the core technologies that will define future mobility.
Infotainment simultaneously provides passengers with driving-related information and entertainment options. Utilizing several of its advanced technologies – telematics systems capable of high-speed, high-volume data transmission, digital interfaces such as the Digital Cockpit, and big data and cloud solutions that can analyze vehicle-generated data points – LG will provide comprehensive mobility solutions to meet the evolving needs of the SDV era and allow customers to enjoy optimized mobility experiences.
To enhance the performance of its e-Powertrain for electric vehicles (EVs) and expand product availability, LG Magna is planning to build a new production facility in Miskolac, Hungary. Covering 26,400 square meters, the facility will be LG Magna's first manufacturing operation in Europe, and is expected to help increase LG's presence in the European automobile market.
Expanding Vision for Mobility Through EV Charging Solutions
The EV charging solution business is expected to strengthen LG's future mobility ecosystem. As part of its strategy to deliver optimal mobility experiences encompassing both vehicle and non-vehicle areas, LG last year acquired HiEV Charger, which possesses core EV charger technology. Synergy is also expected with the battery business within the LG Group, which is projected to grow rapidly in the years ahead.
To meet increasing demand in the future mobility sector, HiEV Charger has unveiled four types of EV chargers that address the weaknesses of existing solutions, reflecting customers' feedback and emerging needs. The new products boast enhanced convenience through the application of LED displays that offer status notifications and intuitive touch control. The new chargers are also equipped with a wide range of safety-boosting features, such as water- and dust-resistance and electrical and thermal protection during the charging process, and provide easy management via connector lock detection and remote updates.
LG aims to expand its EV charging business, harnessing its capabilities in manufacturing, quality control, after-sales service and supply chain management to enhance customers' charging experience.
"We strongly believe future mobility should focus on the mission to deliver another level of customer experience. LG, with innovative mobility solutions, is more than committed to this important mission," concluded CEO Cho. "As we are endeavoring to unlock the future of mobility, we invite all industry leaders to join us in this exciting and important journey."
The press conference video can be viewed on the LG Global YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/GlobalLG).
About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics is a global innovator in technology and consumer electronics with a presence in almost every country and an international workforce of more than 74,000. LG's four companies – Home Appliance & Air Solution, Home Entertainment, Vehicle component Solutions and Business Solutions – combined for global revenue of over KRW 80 trillion in 2022. LG is a leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial products ranging from TVs, home appliances, air solutions, monitors, service robots, automotive components and its premium LG SIGNATURE and intelligent LG ThinQ brands are familiar names world over. Visit www.LGnewsroom.com for the latest news.
LG CEO William Cho at IAA Mobility 2023 press conference.
