LG Electronics appointed Lyu Jae-cheol, the head of its home appliance division, as the new CEO, following Cho Joo-wan's four-year tenure as the company's leader. This decision was made in acknowledgement of his contributions to driving stable sales growth in the home appliance business while serving as the president of the Home Appliance Solution division.
The appointment was unexpected as many people thought Cho would be promoted to vice chairman for his role in leading LG Electronics' transition to a B2B structure and expanding its revenue sources.
LG Electronics stated that Cho has set the groundwork for the company's long-term growth and made the decision to resign to facilitate a smooth transition.
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Lyu, a professional engineer, started working at GoldStar, which later became LG Electronics, in 1989. Throughout his career, he focused on research and development before moving on to management roles where he used his technical skills to improve LG's position in the home appliances market.
Since 2021, he has been in charge of the home appliance department, where he has successfully sustained growth despite fierce competition in the worldwide electronics industry. During the last three years, the department has seen an average yearly sales growth of seven percent.
Under his direction, LG Electronics has demonstrated impressive results in the North American market.
As reported by market tracker TraQ.line, the company achieved the highest share of the US home appliance market with a cumulative market share of 21.8 percent in the third quarter of the current year.
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Lyu contributed to the success of LG's platform-based home appliance business, providing software upgrades for appliances. The program was initially introduced in Korea in 2022 before being expanded to North America and Europe. It has now reached over 20 million cumulative upgrades globally.
The business of the company's appliance subscription program is growing rapidly, with revenue reaching 2 trillion won from January to September. Thanks to Lyu's guidance, the home appliance division achieved sales of 6.58 trillion won and an operating profit of 365.9 billion won in the third quarter, showing an increase of 4.7 percent and 3.2 percent compared to the previous year.
The program significantly contributed to LG Electronics achieving record-high quarterly earnings, even in the face of external challenges like U.S. tariff pressures and increasing shipping expenses.
Lyu has been given the responsibility of enhancing tangible outcomes in B2B sectors including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. To support Lyu, LG Electronics promoted Eun Seok-hyun, head of the vehicle components solutions division, and Lee Jae-sung, head of the energy solutions division, to the position of president.
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Over the past few months, LG Electronics has been implementing strong measures to reduce costs, such as initiating a voluntary redundancy program for all employees, in order to address external challenges. As the business climate is anticipated to remain difficult in the upcoming year, Lyu's main priorities will be protecting the company from external pressures and reviving the TV business that is currently experiencing losses.