이 기사는 2021년 07월 05일 07:57 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

LG Magna e-Powertrain, a joint venture between LG Electronics (LGE) and Magna International, has been launched on Thursday, six months after their partnership to manufacture electric powertrains and parts for electric vehicles was announced in December.

LGE said in a filing on Thursday that it had completed the split-off of part of its electric vehicle parts operations.

The new entity, named LG Magna e-Powertrain, will be 51% owned by LGE and 49% owned by Magna International. With LGE set to have control of the venture, the revenue and earnings of the two companies will be combined in LGE’s consolidated financial statements.

LGE’s auto parts unit called vehicle component solutions (VS), which focuses on infotainment, has continued to grow since its creation in 2013. Revenue from the unit more than tripled from 1.83 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in 2015 to 5.8 trillion won in 2020. However, the unit is still in the red, generating an operating loss of 367.5 billion won in 2020.

LG Magna e-Powertrain focuses on technologies for automotive electrification. With the launch of the venture, LGE has become able to further expand its auto parts business, which has so far consisted of the VS unit and headlight supplier ZKW.

LGE acquired ZKW in 2018. It owns 70% of the Austrian company, with the remaining 30% owned by LG Corp. The acquisition of ZKW helped to grow revenue coming from LGE’s auto parts operations, but earnings remained volatile.

LGE expected revenue from LG Magna e-Powertrain to reach 500 billion won this year and increase rapidly to 1 trillion won by 2023 and 2.5 trillion won by 2025. It also expected the venture to break even in less than two years.

LG Magna e-Powertrain is expected to drive revenue growth of LGE’s auto parts business in coming years. Noh Kyung-tak, an analyst at Eugene Investment Securities, expected revenue from the VS unit to reach 7.1 trillion won this year and grow to 9 trillion won in 2022.

Noh said, “(The VS unit) is expected to grow faster than the growth rate of the global market for electric vehicle parts (35%) as it will likely expand its customer base across Europe and China with LGE’s e-motors and inverters supplied for Magna’s powertrain systems.” (Reporting by Seul-gi Kim)