BERLIN, Sep. 2, 2011 –- The President of LG Electronics’ (LG) Home Appliance Company announced at IFA its goal to become the top washing machine and refrigerator brand in Europe by 2015. Speaking at Messe Berlin, Young-ha Lee, CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company, said LG intends to capture 13 percent market share (sales amount based) in washing machines and 12.5 percent in refrigerators (sales amount based, excluding built-in refrigerators) in the region in four years.

“The European market is highly competitive due to established local players in the home appliance industry,” Mr. Lee said. “But LG is committed to being a brand that is embraced by European customers. We’re already ramping up our investment in the region and have products on the drawing board that are based entirely on consumer insights from European audiences.”

A key part of LG’s strategy is to solidify the company’s image as a premium brand through its smart home appliance products. LG’s strengths are in energy savings and user convenience. These benefits are made possible by LG’s smart solutions the company calls Smart ThinQ™, which includes Smart Manager, Smart Diagnosis™, Smart Access, Smart Adapt and Smart Grid.

Smart Manager manages an inventory of food stored in the refrigerator. LG’s Smart Diagnosis™ feature helps customer service representatives to quickly and efficiently troubleshoot mechanical issues. Smart Access permits consumers to remotely control home appliances using mobile devices such as smartphones. Smart Adapt recommends cooking instructions and wash cycles tailored to the consumers’ needs. And Smart Grid enables consumers to save energy costs by reducing energy consumption during peak hours, without any input from the homeowner.

LG will launch its smart home appliance products in Europe beginning with smart refrigerators in the United Kingdom (UK) at the end of this year. This will be followed by smart washing machines, smart ovens and smart robotic vacuum cleaners. LG’s smart clothing storage unit, Styler, will also make its appearance in European retailers.

LG also plans to increase its market share in the European built-in appliances market by cooperating at a deeper level with distribution partners and by introducing a lineup of more localised products in key European markets such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

As part of this aggressive strategy, LG is ramping up its European manufacturing operations. LG’s plant in Wroclaw, Poland is expected to more than triple its production of refrigerators, expanding from the current 300,000 units annually to one million units. Its new washing machine assembly line in Poland is also targeting one million units a year. LG is looking into investing an additional USD 34 million by 2015 to further expand its European manufacturing facilities.

“These efforts are intended to meet European market demands sooner rather than later,” said LG’s Mr. Lee. “An increasing proportion of products supplying the European market will originate from European facilities instead of Korea and China.”

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