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LG Electronics India is gearing up for an IPO. Stating that India is one of the most important markets for the company, in an emailed interview with businesline , Hong Ju Jeon, MD, LG Electronics India, said he expects consumer sentiment to improve and remains optimistic about the long-term potential. He said the company is expanding the brand’s presence in emerging categories such as built-in kitchens, commercial washing machines and LED Displays, among others.
The company is also deepening brand reach by tailoring its distribution strategy for each region and will look at expanding online distribution to quick commerce. As per the DRHP filed with SEBI in December, the proposed issue, which is completely an offer for sale, will see promoter LG Electronics Inc offload up to 10.18 crore shares, constituting 15 per cent stake in the Indian unit.
Excerpts : We remain optimistic about India and its long-term potential. Consumer sentiment should improve, in part by the cut in personal income taxes that was announced in Union Budget 2025, which will lead to around Rs. 1 lakh crore of additional savings for consumers, and is expected to drive an increase in personal consumption and discretionary spending.
We also expect an uptick in government spending, especially in the area of infrastructure, which is also good for overall economic growth and an increase in income levels. Additionally, the Indian consumer market sector is poised for an increase in overall demand owing to shifting customer preferences, and the growing Indian economy. We are carefully monitoring the situation and preparing to respond based on our operational excellence and a flexible operating system.
India continues to be one of our most important markets. In fact, as I have said, India’s potential is immense. Our 28 years of experience in India has enabled us to develop insights into consumers’ preferences and understand the demands of Indian consumers.
We address this demand by leveraging the global leadership of LG Electronics to introduce new and innovative products for our consumers in India, and where necessary, tailor products to cater to Indian consumer preferences and local requirements. Our India subsidiary derives several benefits from its strong parentage, including the “LG” brand. In India, there has been an unprecedented surge in the air conditioner market in recent years, primarily due to external climatic changes, a rapidly expanding economy, and shifting customer preferences.
Currently, we manufacture and sell a wide range of residential and commercial air conditioners and air purifiers. Our air conditioners are equipped with features such as AI convertibles, which understand usage patterns and environment conditions based on machine learning, to offer customised cooling, ThinQ Wi-Fi smart platform, and Plasmaster Ionizer, among others. We are expanding our portfolio to cover HVAC, commercial information displays, commercial washing machines, LED displays and electronic blackboards, to address the growing demand in the B2B industry.
The ability of our new and upgraded products to achieve anticipated sales volumes, realise our investments and achieve economies of scale depends on their appeal to consumers and competitive pressures such as price, features and services. Our goal is for every Indian household to own an LG product. We aim at delivering products that meet the core needs of Indian consumers across various regions and price points, and build strong brand loyalty through an enhanced services experience.
Our strategy in the premium category is critical to maintaining our competitive edge and our appeal to aspirational Indian consumers across regions. In the premium market, we are focused on introducing products in India, equipped with new technologies backed by AI, that are popular in developed markets. We plan to capitalise on this premiumisation trend and introduce products that serve evolving consumer needs and preferences.
We also plan to enter emerging categories such as built-in-kitchens. We plan to deepen our reach across India by tailoring a distribution strategy for each region to make relevant products accessible to a broader audience. This includes expanding our B2C distribution network to reach more towns in India, increasing the B2C touch points that exclusively distribute LG products across LG BrandShops & traditional channels, and expand our B2B products across new industry verticals.
We are also strengthening our own direct-to-consumers channel, operated through our website. Further, we intend to increase direct deliveries from CDCs to our trade partners, which reduces our dependency on third parties, reduces delivery-lead times and optimises our costs. In addition, we plan to expand our online distribution presence to new commerce platforms, such as quick commerce, through partnerships.
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