LG established the division in 2013 to tap deeper into the lucrative market for futuristic vehicles such as full-electric vehicles and self-driving cars. Its local rival Samsung launched a similar team in December.

The Korean tech giant restored profitability across its business divisions. Its fourth-quarter profits surged 26.8 percent to 349 billion won from a year ago. Sales stood at 14.5 trillion won, down 4.7 percent on-year.

Largely buoyed by increased sales of more profitable organic light emitting diode or OLED TVs, the Home Entertainment business division’s operating profits soared to 109.2 billion won from last year’s 2.1 billion won.

The mobile business division, which suffered 77.6 billion profit losses in the third quarter, swung to a profit of 68.1 billion won in the fourth quarter.

LG sold 15.3 million smartphones in the quarter, of which LTE phones made up a record 10.8 million units.

In Tuesday’s conference call, the company said it will launch two premium smartphones this year, including its flagship G5 in March, while diversifying budget phone lineups.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)