LG Innotek has announced a new plan to accelerate the growth of its vehicle sensing solution business by leveraging its optical technologies to drive innovation in the future mobility sector.
A key pillar of the plan, identified as ‘High Performance LiDAR’, will see the LG subsidiary pursue a targeted approach to the LiDAR market. Here, it recently established a dedicated business division for LiDAR, reporting directly to the CEO. The development and business of LiDAR, once dispersed across LG Innotek’s optical solution business division and CTO, have been consolidated under the LiDAR business division. This organizational restructuring was driven by Moon Hyuksoo, CEO of LG Innotek, who will now oversee the LiDAR business directly – aiming to enhance its capabilities and operational efficiency.
In strengthening its Vehicle Camera Module business capability through equity investment, product enhancement, and factory expansion, LG Innotek identified vehicle camera modules as another product line that, itself, will form another key pillar of the plan. In committing to this pillar, LG Innotek entered into a contract for equity investment with AOE Optronics to enhance its capabilities in the vehicle camera module business and accelerate the development of new, high-value, camera modules.
At the same time, LG Innotek also announced a new high heat-generating material, which is currently in development, that will heat up more quickly than its existing High-Performance Heating Camera Module (designed to rapidly defrost vehicle camera lenses in cold weather conditions). In the near future, LG Innotek plans to conduct performance verification on its new ultra-high-speed, heating camera modules that incorporate this material. Within this second pillar, LG Innotek also highlighted its development of new camera modules equipped with a washing function to remove foreign substances, such as dust, from the lens while driving. These technologies will together allow the company to expand its vehicle camera module portfolio.
An investment from LG Innotek into new manufacturing facilitates for these new camera modules will similarly work to strengthen its commitment to this pillar. This activity builds on the company’s 2023 purchase of approximately 99,173 square meters of land near its manufacturing subsidiary in San Juan de Rio, Mexico, with the intention of expanding its factory. This newly expanded factory is scheduled to commence mass production of vehicle camera modules in the second half of 2025.
Through the new plan, LG Innotek will more broadly aim to become a ‘Vehicle Sensing Total Solution Provider’, providing differentiated customer values that encompass vehicle interior and exterior solutions. Furthermore, it is currently looking to attract new customers by implementing ‘Sensor Fusion’ functionality, which combines vehicle camera modules and LiDAR through software, into its product portfolio. This implementation will allow it to offer a wider range of sensing parts for installation on a vehicle’s exterior, alongside a In-Cabin Vehicle Camera Module that can facilitate various in-vehicle use cases, such as teleconferencing, entertainment, and infant monitoring.
Altogether, LG Innotek expects that implementing these new measures will help it achieve annual sales of $1.4 billion (£1.0 billion / €1.2 billion) by 2030 and market leadership as a top-ranking business.
