LG prepares to take global air conditioning market by storm
LG Electronics, one of the largest producers of consumer electronics, has made a rather ambitious New Year’s Resolution: the company aims to increase its air conditioner sales by 10% in 2009; this despite concerns of a deepening recession. To help them capture a larger share of the air conditioning market, LG have established a brand new Air Conditioner Division under the leadership of Nho Hwan-yong, who says, “Our new organisation is better positioned to compete in the global HVAC market and will allow us to better serve our customers. We expect LG Air Conditioning to be a core growth engine for LG Electronics in the years ahead as we continue to expand the business and capture more market share.”
One of the aims of the new air conditioning division is to become the top international company in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning market within the next 4-5 years. To this end, LG Air Conditioning has appointed six regional business leaders to oversee operations in Europe, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America and China. These leaders will be responsible for applying the results of consumer research to product development and increasing the efficiency of all processes from supply chain management to production.
LG Electronics boasted a 4% growth in residential air conditioner sales, including fixed units portable air conditioners, in 2008 to $5 billion and even though this was a company record, it was still below the initial target of $5.5 billion. LG is confident that when the figures for 2008 are released, it will top the list for global air conditioner sales, as they have for the past 8 years. So far, figures indicate that since the company first entered the air conditioning market in 1968 they sell about 4.8 air conditioners per minute.
The new division will focus its attention on commercial and residential air conditioning, as well as renewable energy solutions.
