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[News Article] Korean Companies Gaining Ground in N. American EV Battery Market

2022.12.09

Korean Companies Gaining Ground in N. American EV Battery Market

 

 

 

By Michael Herh, BusinessKorea - LG Energy Solution has placed second in the North American electric vehicle (EV) battery market. The use of batteries from SK On and Samsung SDI has also increased significantly.

 

The total amount of battery energy of EVs registered in North America from January to October this year stood at 56.4 gigawatt hours (GWh), up 61 percent from the same month of last year, SNE Research said on Dec. 4. EV battery usage soared despite adverse events such as the Russia-Ukraine war and a shortage of automotive semiconductors. The figure included battery EVs (BEVs), plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs), and hybrid EVs (HEVs).

 

Japan's Panasonic ranked first in North America until October this year with cumulative battery usage of 27.1GWh, a 25 percent increase from the same month of 2021. It accounted for 48 percent of the North American battery market. During the same period, Panasonic ranked fourth in the global market with a share of 7.9 percent, but in North America, it rose to No. 1 based on Tesla’s adoption of its batteries.

 

LG Energy Solution came in second with cumulative battery usage of 10.1GWh, a 24 percent increase from the same month of last year. The Korean battery giant, which ranked second in the global battery market with a share of 13.8 percent, posted an 18 percent market share in North America. It was attributable to strong sales of the Ford Mustang, the GM Volt, and the Volkswagen ID.4, analysts say.

 

China’s CATL which took third place chalked up a cumulative battery usage of 7.6GWh in October, up 431 percent from a year earlier. Its market share came at 14 percent. A surge in sales of the Tesla Model 3 made in China had an impact on the ranking of CATL.

 

SK On landed at fourth place with 5.4GWh, a 646 percent increase in battery usage compared to the same period of last year. Samsung SDI placed fifth with 4.5GWh, a 282 percent increase in battery usage during the same period. SK On’s battery sales growth were driven by strong sales of the Hyundai IONIQ 6, the Kia EV6 and the Ford F-150 and an increase in sales of Volkswagen, BMW, and Rivian electric cars contributed to driving up Samsung SDI’s battery sales.

 

“Out of the 56.4GWh of battery use in North America from January to October in 2022, batteries installed in Tesla cars totaled 33.1GWh, accounting for 58.6 percent,” SNE Research said. “We need to pay attention to the supply chain diversification strategies of the three Korean battery makers, who supply batteries mainly to Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and GM, as it remains to be seen whether they will be able to maintain their high growth rate in North America or Panasonic and CATL, which supply batteries to Tesla, will dominate the North American market."

 

Source: www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=105331