Anchor: Samsung Electronics is in talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to buy its auto-parts maker Magneti Marelli. Industry analysts say that Samsung has designated making components of smart cars as its next biggest profitable business. The acquisition move comes while major players such as Google and Apple are eyeing to develop smart cars.
Our Kim Bum-soo reports.

Report: Samsung Electronics confirmed media reports that it is in talks to buy auto-parts maker Magneti Marelli from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, signaling that the tech giant will join the future automobile market.
 
Samsung said that the acquisition is a step to expand its electronic and electric auto-parts business, which was launched last year.
 
Just last month, the South Korean conglomerate made itself the ninth largest shareholder of Chinese electric car maker BYD Auto, and the planned acquisition of Magneti Marelli will pave the way for the company to join the future auto market. 

It could cost more than three billion U.S. dollars for Samsung to buy the parts manufacturer, whose sales amounted to eight billion dollars last year. But the high technology auto-part market is predicted to grow to nearly 360 billion U.S. dollars by 2020.
 
Market analysts like Researcher Kim Joon-seong at Meritz Securities says Samsung Group's heir Lee Jae-yong has chosen components for self-driving smart cars as one of the next growth engines.

[Sound bite: Kim Joon-seong - Researcher, Meritz Securities (Korean)]
"Acquiring an auto-parts company with an established customer base will allow Samsung to enter the market and compete with rivals right away."
 
Industry experts say that IT, telecommunications and other industry outsiders will change the ecosystem of the auto market, where the distinction is already growing vague between traditional auto manufacturers and Google and Apple, that are striving to develop self-driving smart cars.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.