A mammoth among electrical equipment firms will soon be under new leadership. LG Electronics Inc. announced Monday that William Cho, the company’s head of strategy since 2019, will take over as company CEO at the end of November, 2021. The change comes as LG Electronics is emerging as a force in the coming electrification of the automotive market.
Cho, according to a company statement released November 29, has experience working as the head of LG Canada, LG Australia and LG United States, and most recently has served as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer for three years.
In other changes to LG Electronics’ leadership, two senior VPs will receive promotions aimed at areas LG wants to expand. Jang Ik-hwan will be promoted to lead LG’s Business Solutions company after growing the company’s market share in laptop and monitor sales, and Eun Seok-hyun will lead the company’s Vehicle Component Solutions company.
Aside from LG’s consumer appliances businesses, LG Electronics owns a joint venture with General Motors Co., Ultium Cells LLC, which both companies hope will be the future of GM’s electric car battery supply chain. The partnership hit an embarrassing bump in the road for LG in October, when the companies announced LG would pay GM almost $2 billion over recalled Chevy Bolt batteries.
Despite the snafu, GM has signaled only enthusiasm for dramatically increasing its market share in electric vehicles. The company aims to catch rival electric automaker Tesla Co. in market share by 2025, according to CEO Mary Barra.
