S. Korea Firm to Sell BCMs to Iran Khodro

LS Automotive Co., an automotive electric part making unit of South Korea’s conglomerate LS Group, is seeking to make inroads in overseas markets with moving into markets like Iran and China.

The Seoul-based company recently concluded a deal with Iran Khodro Group, Iran’s largest car producer, to sell its independently developed body control units, (BCMs) to the local carmaker, according to Korea’s Pulse News.

A BCM is a vehicle’s electronic control unit that monitors and controls various electronic accessories like power windows, power mirrors, air-conditioning, immobilizer system and central door locking system.

The Korean firm will supply Iran with 480,000 sets of the BCM over the next six years. The deal is estimated to be worth around $89 million (105 billion won or 22 trillion rials).

LS Automotive will also boost its sales in China to more than $57.6 million by 2020 and add production sites in emerging markets.

The company said on January 16 that it has successfully added eight of China’s top 11 finished carmakers such as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Co., Jianghuai Automobile Corporation (JAC) and China FAW Group Corporation, to its customer list.

It is currently running two plants in Qingdao and Wuxi in China, which generated $178 million in combined sales in 2015.

China is not the only overseas market where LS Automotive is making efforts. It recently laid out a plan to increase presence in India.

The company last month announced its plan to go public in the first half of this year to raise funds for overseas expansion and develop advanced car electronic parts.