[News Article] Korean Companies Gaining Ground in N. American EV Battery Market
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
2022.12.09