Three South Korean EV battery maker's global market sinks in 2022

Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers saw their global market share sink in the first 11 months of 2022 from a year earlier amid robust growth of Chinese rivals, industry data showed on Wednesday.

The trio -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., SK Innovation Co. and Samsung SDI Co. -- held a combined 23.1 percent of the global EV battery market in the January-November period, down 7.4 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the data from market researcher SNE Research.

The market portion of LG Energy Solution fell to 12.3 percent from 19.6 percent during the period, with its global ranking dropping to third place from second. LG Energy Solution counts Tesla, Volkswagen and Audi as its clients, reports Yonhap news agency.

SK On, the battery-making subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., suffered a 0.1-percentage-point decline to 5.9 percent but retained the No. 5 spot.

Samsung SDI, which supplies batteries for the BMW iX and Fiat 500, saw its market share remain flat at 5 percent, ranking sixth.

The tumble in the South Korean firms' market share contrasted with the surge by Chinese firms, including top player CATL whose share jumped to 37.1 percent from 32.2 percent over the cited period.

CATL and two other Chinese players -- BYD and CALB -- altogether accounted for 54.7 percent of the global market share, up from 43.7 percent a year ago.

Chinese EV battery makers have been leading the world market thanks to strong domestic demand and Beijing's policy support.

--IANS

na/