BANGALORE: LG India has announced its foray into the MP3 player and car audio segment.

The company has also launched a new “touché “ range of high-end home theatres, lifestyle audio systems, MP3 players, and high definition DVD that have special features such as a high-gloss piano black bodyline, a sleek touch pad and red lighting that add luxury and sophistication.

The bio-indicate lighting in the touch pads allows users to "communicate" with the product, which reacts to user movement in its touch sensor area. The company also showcased the world‘s first Dual-format High-Definition Disc Player at the occasion.

Speaking at the launch, LGEIL MD Moon B Shin said,“Our research shows that world over product aesthetics is playing a major role in consumer buying decision. We are extremely pleased to take the aesthetic appeal of products to the next level through our “Touché” series, a first in India. Like all LG products, these new launches will also be a combination of performance, technology and looks and we are confident of capturing unanimous interest of our target audience which is style conscious, upmarket and very sophisticated.”

Post this launch, LG’s product portfolio shall encompass not only home entertainment but also mobile and in-car entertainment. While the MP3 and MP4 players are priced from Rs 3000- 12,000/- , the car audios will be available at a price range of Rs 5000-60,000/-

Added Shin, “Audio Video is a focus category for LG, and we will be spending close to Rs. 50 million in the second quarter of the current year for marketing these products and aggressively targeting the huge consumer base. We are confident of achieving a turnover of Rs 4.5 billion Digital Audio Video segment by year end. This translates into a 70 per cent value growth in the segment for LG even though the industry itself is growing at the rate lower than 10 per cent. We are already the top brand in video segment and are aiming to achieve the numero uno status in digital audios segment by year end 2007.”

The Rs 50 million announced by Shin will be spent towards outdoor, print and newspaper public communications. The company will chalk out plans for their third quarter, and TVC’s could be considered at that stage, according to LGIL aast. Gm- sales and marketing and head audio video and mobile equipment Rishi Tandon. The creative work for the LG group is by Lintas while media buying is by Group M.

LGEIL achieved a turnover of Rs 82.50 billion in 2006.