Market share of S. Korean EV battery makers LG, SK and Samsun slide, as China's CATL, BYD and CALB surge

Seoul: 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 per cent 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 per cent from 19.6 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent, ranking sixth.

Surge in Chinese battery makers

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 per cent 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.