Market research firm SNE Research announced on Aug. 1 that Ningde Times’ share of the global electric vehicle battery market rose from 28 percent to 34 percent in the first half of this year, according to Korean media BusinessKorea.
“During this period, BYD, the third largest company in the industry, increased its market share from 7 percent to 12 percent,” the agency said. “The six Chinese companies in the top 10 had a combined market share of 56 percent in the first half, while the other four were AVIC Lithium, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Xinwanda and Honeycomb Energy, ranked seventh to tenth, respectively. in seventh to tenth place.”
On the other hand, the three Korean companies saw their combined market share drop from 35 percent to 26 percent. Runner-up LG Energy Solutions saw its share drop from 24 percent to 14 percent, while Samsung SDI (sixth) saw its share drop from 6 percent to 5 percent, although SK On (fifth) saw its share increase from 5 percent to 7 percent.
The use of Chinese EV batteries is now increasing in North America and Europe, as well as in China, while Chinese EV battery suppliers are increasing their investments. In the first half of the year, more than 85 EV battery plant construction projects were started in China, with a total estimated investment of more than 591 billion yuan.
These suppliers are also expanding their operations in Korea. For example, the Kia Niro electric car launched in June this year uses Ningde Times batteries, and Ssangyong Motors plans to launch an electric car with BYD batteries next year. Hyundai Mobis and Ningde Times recently signed a memorandum of understanding on CTP (Cell to Pack) technology development.
