BYD is in talks with KG Mobility to build a joint battery cell plant in South Korea, with plans to have the plant start mass production in January 2025, a South Korean media outlet reported.
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Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) and battery giant BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) is reportedly in talks to build a battery cell plant in South Korea to make it easier to supply a local automaker.
BYD is in talks with South Korean automaker KG Mobility, formerly known as Ssangyong Motor Co, to build a joint battery cell plant in South Korea, according to an August 21 report in the Korea Economic Daily.
BYD and KG Mobility plan to have the battery pack plant begin mass production in January 2025, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It would be the first joint venture plant in South Korea between a foreign battery maker and a local automaker, the report noted.
The companies have yet to decide on details such as location and capacity, the report said, citing a KG Mobility official.
The plant could be built near KG Mobility's Pyeongtaek plant, about 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul, Korea Economic Daily said, citing sources.
In order to expand their EV product lines, carmakers need to improve production efficiency by getting battery packs from facilities near their car factories, and KG Mobility may have partnered with BYD to source battery packs in South Korea, according to the report.
KG Mobility plans to install lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in its mid-sized electric SUV model, the Torres EVX, which will be launched in September and will be the first electric vehicle in South Korea to be equipped with LFP batteries, the report said.
The South Korean company has been working with BYD since 2021 and plans to use BYD's batteries in an electric pickup truck codenamed O100EV and a large electric SUV codenamed SUV-F100EV to be launched in 2025, according to the report.
BYD is China's largest NEV maker and one of the world's largest battery makers.
BYD sold a record 262,161 NEVs in July, bringing its January-July total to more than 1.5 million units, according to data it released earlier this month.
In January-June, BYD had 47.7 GWh of installed power batteries globally, placing it in second place with a 15.7 percent share, according to data released on August 3 by South Korean market researcher SNE Research.
CATL continued to rank first in the world with a 36.8 percent share of 112.0 GWh of batteries installed from January to June.
Global EV battery market share in H1 2023: CATL 36.8%, BYD 15.7%
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