LG India to invest over Rs 1,100 cr on expansion

PUNE: LG Electronics India Ltd, the local unit of South Korean consumer durables maker, will invest over Rs 1,100 crore in the next three years as it seeks to increase revenue and consolidate its position in the premium segment.

"We are targeting 30 per cent sales in the premium segment in 2008, up from 20-22 per cent currently, for which, we will invest heavily in marketing," LGEIL Head (Sales and Marketing) Amit Gupta said.

The company is also targeting revenues of Rs 16,000 crore by 2010 from the expected figure of Rs 9,500 crore this year, 81 per cent of which would come from domestic sales.

Of the planned investment, Rs 1,000 crore would be to fund marketing efforts with a focus on plasma TV, IT products, split AC and GSM handset, while Rs 120 crore would be to enhance production capacity.

He said the company had invested Rs 320 crore in marketing during 2007. "With the help of our aggressive marketing and expansions, we are hopeful of touching the revenue figure of four billion dollar," Gupta said.

LGEIL would also invest Rs 120 crore in 2008 on its expansion plans and to consolidate its position in the GSM handset market, which is dominated by Finland's Nokia, US firm Motorola and South Korea's Samsung.

"We will be investing Rs 120 in coming year to expand Pune plant's production capacity and other infrastructure development," Gupta said.

The company would launch 10 new mobile models in the mid and high-end categories by August 2008.

"Currently, we make 22 models in the low-end segment at Pune plant. We will put in Rs 4 crore to launch 10 new models to enhance our product portfolio in the mid (Rs 6,000-8,000) and high range (Rs 9,000-14,000) segments," LGEIL Factory Head (Ranjangaon) Govindaraj CS said.