'Smart home with appliances communicating with each other': LG outlines India vision

The Indian arm of Korean technology giant LG opened a made-in-India facility on Tuesday to manufacture its premium side-by-side refrigerators in Pune's Ranjangaon. The facility will not only see LG's foray into India's premium refrigerator market but envisions making all the home appliances in the premium category.

Hyoung Subji, Director Home Appliances LG Electronics, while speaking exclusively to Tech Today's Aayush Ailawadi at the launch, said, "Our vision is to move to premium market starting with our refrigerators but eventually have a Wi-Fi-enabled ecosystem that makes all the appliances at home communicate with each other."

The Pune-Ranjangaon facility is one of the two manufacturing plants we have set up but this one majorly is for refrigerators, he said.  The idea is to expand because India as a market has the most amount of potential to grow, he added.

"We have invested a huge sum of money into India which is in line with Prime Minister Modi's vision of making in India. And, this is not being manufactured in India just to be sold in the domestic market but to also export. After the USA, India is LG's second biggest market in the world and so our choice for such a big investment," Subji added.

LG will now be focusing on reducing its budget and low-end products to manufacture high-end products to capture the premium market. "Our focus is to give more value to our customers with premium products in the market. We are starting with the refrigerator segment and will move to more as time progresses," Subji said.

LG has invested approximately Rs 200 crore, and this new facility is equipped with advanced technologies and pieces of machinery to manufacture side-by-side refrigerators in addition to double-door and single-door refrigerators. The company has been manufacturing single-door and double-door refrigerators across facilities in Greater Noida and Pune.

The Pune plant also manufactures TVs, washing machines, ACs, and computer monitors, which is strengthening the company’s position as the market leader in the home appliances category.

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