SNE research pointed out that BYD has gained popularity in the domestic market by gaining an advantage in price competitiveness through the vertical integration strategy of its own battery supply and automobile manufacturing, and recently expanded its market share in the battery market by selling Atto 3(Yuan plus), one of its main models, outside China.
The market share of the three South Korean companies was 23.8 percent, down 1.1 percent from the same period last year, but the battery usage of the three companies showed an increasing trend. LG New Energy rose 49.1 percent (69.3GWH) compared to the same period last year, ranking third, SK On rose 13.2 percent (24.6GWH), and Samsung SDI rose 40.2 percent (21.7GWH), ranking fifth and seventh, respectively.
In particular, the market share of LG new energy from January to September was 14.3%, a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points from January to August. In September alone, LG New Energy's battery load was 8.4GWH, down 11.2% from 9.5GWH in August.
The growth momentum of the three Korean companies is mainly due to the good sales of models equipped with batteries of each company. Sales of the BMW i4/i7 and Audi Q8 e-Tron equipped with Samsung SDI batteries are on the rise, while sales of the libian r1/R1S/EDV and FIAT 500 are also on the rise.
SK On is enjoying strong sales of Hyundai's ionic 5, Kia's EV6, and Mercedes-Benz's EQA/B. SK On has recently completed the development of square-shell batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are in high demand, and will expand its market share in the North American region.
LG New Energy posted the highest growth rate among the three Korean companies, thanks to strong sales of vehicles such as Tesla Model3/Y, Volkswagen ID Series, and Ford Mustang Mach-E, which are showing high popularity in Europe and North America.
It is worth noting that General Motors, which has been experiencing sluggish sales recently, plans to expand its electric vehicle production line and production based on batteries produced by ultium cells, a joint venture with LG New Energy. Gm plans to launch a series of more affordable models similar to the Blazer EV, which is expected to become a new driving force for the growth of LG's new energy battery usage.
Panasonic is the only Japanese company in the top 10, at number four. From January to September this year, its battery usage reached 33.8GWH, an increase of 32.3% compared with the same period last year, and the market share was 7%, 0.7 percentage points less than the same period last year. Panasonic is one of Tesla's main battery suppliers for the North American market. The sharp increase in sales of Tesla's Model Y in North America compared to the same period last year led to the growth in the use of Panasonic batteries.
SNE research pointed out that as the growth rate of global electric vehicle sales has recently slowed down, the price of batteries has become the primary competitiveness over performance. Therefore, most companies have adopted lithium iron phosphate batteries that are more price-competitive than nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary batteries, and Korean battery companies with high-nickel ternary batteries as their main products have also announced the development roadmap of lithium iron phosphate (lithium ferromanganese phosphate) and high-voltage nickel batteries.
