LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo reaffirmed the conglomerate’s commitment to growing its battery businesses as he visited HLI Green Power, a 50:50 battery joint venture by LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group in Indonesia, earlier this month.

According to LG on Monday, Koo toured the battery cell production line at HLI Green Power and highlighted the need for solidarity and cooperation with partners to break through a stalled electric vehicle market.

Located in Karawang, West Java, as the country’s first EV battery manufacturing plant, HLI Green Power began operation in April last year with an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, which is enough to power about 150,000 EVs. The joint battery plant posted a 96 percent yield rate within four months of the start of mass production.

The LG chief called on the employees at the battery joint venture to gain a competitive edge and stand out in the market. Commemorating his visit, Koo wrote on a battery cell product that he hopes the battery foothold will become “the heart of future mobility.”

The visit to HLI Green followed Koo’s remarks during a shareholders’ meeting in March where he emphasized that LG will nurture the battery industry as a key business for itself and a future core industry for Korea. He previously visited an Ultium Cells factory, an EV battery joint venture between LG Energy Solution and General Motors, in Tennessee in June last year.

“Although the EV chasm is lasting longer than expected and the competition (with Chinese battery makers) is heating up, (Koo’s visit) shows his determination to thoroughly prepare for (post-EV-chasm) times even at a moment like this,” said an LG official.

The LG chief then visited LG Electronics' production and research and development offices as well as local retail stores for home appliances in Cibitung, West Java, to review the overall value chain. LG Electronics -- which produces TVs, monitors and signage at its Cibitung site for Asia, the Middle East and Africa -- established an R&D office near the Cibitung plant to mark the area as an outpost targeting the Indonesian and Southeast Asian markets.

During his visit to the Cibitung plant, Koo inspected an autonomous production line for TVs and discussed LG Electronics’ global R&D operational strategies for the future. The LG leader also went to Electronic City, a local retail store, to check the sales performance of LG Electronics’ products, receive customer feedback about regional products, and inspect Chinese rivals’ market strategies in the Southeast Asian home appliances market.

“While it is important to respond to competition, which is getting fiercer right now, we need to come up with strategies for our survival five years from now and identify the decisions we should make and where we should focus to secure our distinctive competitiveness,” said Koo in a meeting with local LG Electronics executives and employees in Jakarta.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)