'Nexslide' Annual Sales Up 47%
New Products Including 'Pixellighting' to Be Developed Next Year
LG Innotek is expanding its automotive lighting module business, a key product in its automotive (vehicle electric and electronic equipment) sector, to the trillion-won scale. The company plans to expand and strengthen its product portfolio, including the flexible three-dimensional lighting module 'Nexslide.'
LG Innotek employees are showcasing the vehicle lighting module 'Nexslide' installed on a future car mock-up. [Photo by LG Innotek]
On the 13th, LG Innotek announced that it will accelerate its global automotive lighting module market penetration, spearheaded by Nexslide, which marks its 10th anniversary of commercialization this year. The company plans to not only increase Nexslide orders but also develop various products such as the 'next-generation Nexslide' and 'pixel lighting' by next year.
Nexslide is LG Innotek's automotive flexible three-dimensional lighting module. Since starting mass production of 'Nexslide-A' in 2014, the company has introduced a total of nine lineups over 10 years. It has been installed in 88 vehicle models from nine domestic and international automakers, including those in Korea, North America, Europe, Japan, and China. Nexslide recorded an average annual sales growth rate of 47% over the past decade. As of last month, it achieved a cumulative order volume of 146 units.
LG Innotek explained that Nexslide plays a pioneering role in increasing orders from global automaker customers. In the past, automotive modules were considered simple interior lighting devices, but now premium automaker clients view them as design products that enhance their brand value.
Nexslide is made by attaching multiple light source packages, a softly bendable optical resin material, and optical films with proprietary micro-optical pattern technology onto a thin substrate. With over 200 technology patents acquired, LG Innotek has secured exclusive technologies related to Nexslide. Compared to before Nexslide's development, the number of components was reduced by more than 20%, making the module thinner. As the module brightness increased, power efficiency also improved, which helps reduce the energy consumption of electric vehicles (EVs), analogous to fuel efficiency in internal combustion engine vehicles.
LG Innotek aims to complete the development of 'pixel lighting' technology, which produces various text and animation effects, by next year. This is because the role of vehicle lighting has been expanding recently in the automotive market. There is a growing number of cases where lighting is installed on vehicle grilles to support communication between driver-to-driver (V2V) and driver-to-pedestrian (V2P), and to indicate the autonomous driving status with specific colors. According to a report by the global market research firm Report Insight, the global automotive lighting market is expected to grow from $21.9 billion (approximately 29 trillion won) in 2022 to $32.08 billion (approximately 42.45 trillion won) by 2030.
LG Innotek plans to develop the 'next-generation Nexslide' with improved energy efficiency by next year to secure customers among mid-to-low-priced electric vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Byung-guk Yoo, Executive Vice President and Head of the Automotive Components Division, said, "We will introduce products that provide differentiated customer value and nurture the automotive lighting module business into a trillion-won scale enterprise."
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