LG Energy Solution Maintained the No.1 Position in Non-Chinese Global[1] EV Battery Usage[2] in Q1 2022
- SK-On and Samsung SDI, taking 4th and 5th respectively, successfully entered the top 5 in the market where the Korean battery makers took up 55.6% of M/S.
In the ranking of battery installation for global electric vehicles (EV, PHEV, HEV) excluding the Chinese market sold in the first quarter of 2022, Korea’s LG Energy Solution solidified the first position, while SK-On and Samsung SDI safely entered the top 5, taking 4th and 5th position respectively. The market share of the K-trio companies combined has risen to 55.6%.
This tally excludes the usage of batteries installed in electric vehicles sold in China from that of the global market.
In Q1 2022, the amount of energy held by batteries for electric vehicles registered worldwide except in China was 42.5GWh, increased by 54.1% compared to the same period of the last year, which has been continuously showing a steep upward curve.
By company, LG Energy Solution maintained the No. 1 position with 60% increase to 13.9GWh. CATL, a Chinese battery maker, captured 3rd position even in the non-Chinese market, boasting a 127% of growth.
SK-On, boasting the biggest growth among the K-trio, recorded 6.2 GWh with its market share increased by more than 5%p.
Samsung SDI ranked 5th with 3.5GWh, a 25.3% increase.
The combined market share of the Korean three battery companies reached 55.6%, 4.5%p increase from the same period of the previous year, taking a dominant position in the non-Chinese market.
On the other hand, Japanese makers such as Panasonic, PEVE, and LEJ, were sluggish in growth compared to other global makers, losing their share in the market. Especially, the market share of Panasonic has dropped by 7.5%p.
Compared to the Japanese makers, some of Chinese battery companies have shown an explosive growth in the market. CATL, propped up by sudden increases in BEV sales including Tesla Model 3 (made in China and exported to Europe), Mercedes-Benz EQA, and BMW iX3, captured the 3rd position with more than 2.2 times growth. This proved that CATL has taken a strong hold even in the market outside China. With increasing demand for Dacia Spring Electric by Renault in Europe, Sunwoda successfully entered the global top 10 in Q1 2022, showing the highest growth rate among other players in the market.
The upward trend of the K-trio companies was driven by strong sales of electric vehicle models equipped with batteries of each company. LG Energy Solution’s strong growth was backed by the increasing sales of Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model 3 (made in China), and Ford Mustang Mach-E. SK-On continued its high growth driven by solid sales of Hyundai Ionic 5, and KIA Niro BEV and EV6. As for the sales growth of Samsung SDI, PIAT 500, Ford Kuga PHEV, and Jeep Wrangler PHEV were the major leading factors.
Meanwhile, battery installation in March 2022 was 18.8GWh, 41.9% increase from the same period of last year.
By company, LG Energy Solution kept the top position outrunning Panasonic, while SK-On and Samsung SDI showed a double-digit growth. CATL recorded a rapid growth more than two time greater than before, while Sunwoda showed the highest growth rate among the top 10 players in the market.
Although LG Energy Solution managed to keep the top position in the non-Chinese market in Q1 2022, there are still pressures on the three Korean companies especially with CATL and Sunwoda rapidly climbing up the ladder. As more aggressive movements are expected from the Chinese makers who have been continuously expanding their market share, together with portentous factors such as the increase of battery material cost and semiconductor supply issues, it has become a pressing issue for the K-trio to establish a preemptive and strategic measure to secure materials for their battery production.