LG, Mahindra Group to cooperate on connected car

By Yoon Sung-won

LG Uplus said Monday it will work with Ssangyong Motor and India’s Tech Mahindra in the connected car business.

The nation’s third-largest telecom company said the three companies will jointly develop and provide automobile infotainment content through long-term evolution (LTE) telecom modems embedded in cars. The new services are expected to be released in the next three years, LG Uplus said.

“We will actively participate in the cooperation by combining our quality LTE service and content to provide differentiated connected car services,” LG Uplus Business Solution Division Executive Vice President Kang Moon-seok said in a statement.

According to the memorandum of understanding the three signed Friday, LG Uplus will provide fundamental telecom services and establish a service platform for diverse content such as real-time navigation, location-based service recommendation, voice recognition, home Internet of Things and smartphone mirroring.

Ssangyong Motor will develop car interiors while Tech Mahindra will provide its telematics platform regarding automobile safety and control.

Tech Mahindra, which is an affiliate of India’s Mahindra Group ― as is Ssangyong ― provides telecom and IT system consulting services globally, generating 4.5 trillion won ($4.06 billion) in annual sales.