Plant and R&D Center to Add Nearly 300 Jobs
SEOUL, Aug. 23, 2017 — LG Electronics Inc. (LG) today announced plans to establish a factory for advanced electric vehicle (EV) components in the United States. The 250,000-square-foot facility, in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, Michigan, will produce EV components starting in 2018. The project will mean at least 292 new jobs – 137 LG factory workers in Hazel Park and another related 155 engineers and technicians at the expanded LG R&D Center co-located with LG’s vehicle components U.S. headquarters in Troy, Michigan.
Representing an LG investment of about USD 25 million, the project is supported by a USD 2.9 million capital grant under the Michigan Business Development Program over the next four years, as announced today by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. LG also will receive hiring and training assistance from the state, including MI Works support in cooperation with local community colleges, and from the cities of Hazel Park and Troy.
“When leading global companies like LG invest in Michigan and create hundreds of good, high-paying jobs here, it speaks volumes about the strong business climate in the state today,” Governor Rick Snyder said. “LG’s great technological advancements and our outstanding workforce will help pave the way for the vehicles of the future right here in Michigan.”
Lee Woo-jong, president of the Vehicle Components Company of LG Electronics said, “LG’s initiative to develop and produce world-class EV subassemblies in the United States represents a key pillar of our strategy to be the best technology partner to U.S. automakers.”
Vehicle components represent the fastest-growing business of global technology leader LG Electronics. The LG Vehicle Components Company reported first-half 2017 global revenues of more than USD 1.5 billion, a 43 percent increase from the same period last year, thanks in large part to the successful collaboration with General Motors on the popular Chevrolet Bolt EV. Honored by GM as a global supplier of the year, LG Electronics received the coveted 2017 GM Innovation Award.
LG’s jobs and investment commitment in Michigan coincides with two other major LG projects in the United States. The company will soon begin construction on the world’s most advanced production plant for washing machines in Clarksville, Tennessee. This USD 250 million factory will create 600 new jobs by 2019. In addition, construction is underway on the new LG North American Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, a USD 300 million project that is expected to increase LG’s local employment there from 500 today to more than 1,000 by 2019.