Samsung says won’t resume auto business

Samsung Electronics chief operating officer Lee Jay-yong dismissed market rumors that Samsung Group may have big new plans for the automotive industry.

“(Samsung Group) will not carry out automobile business,” Lee told reporters over the weekend.

He reiterated that executives had already made it clear that the auto sector would not be included in the group’s future business categories.

The group will only continue to provide carmakers with auto-oriented semiconductors and batteries for electronic-vehicles, he added.

Exor, the parent firm of Italian carmaker Fiat, is poised to appoint the Samsung Electronics chief as its board’s independent director.

There are speculations that Lee is close to John Elkann, the CEO of Exor and grandson of Gianni Agnelli, who is the founder of Exor and Fiat.

Local analysts predict that his connection with Exor could pave the way for Samsung Group’s tech subsidiaries to forge tie-ups with Exor’s automobile subsidiaries including Fiat and Chrysler in renewable batteries.

The group had conducted the auto business since the establishment of Samsung Motors in 1994.

Samsung Motors was created after Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee recognized the automobile industry as the culmination of several other industries.

But right after the company began sales of cars in 1998, it was hit by the Asian financial crisis. It was acquired by France’s Renault Group in 2000.

Currently, the Renault Group holds an 80.1 percent stake in Renault Samsung Motors and Samsung Card is the second-largest shareholder with a 19.9 percent stake.

Meanwhile, Fiat, which had to close down its Korean unit in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, is considering reentering the local market, according to Chrysler Korea spokespeople.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)