LG Chem has overtaken China's BYD, ranking third in the global automotive battery market. SNE Research, an electric vehicle market analysis company, said on Dec. 19 that the total battery usage of electric vehicles worldwide in October was 7.8 GWh, down 25.7 percent from the same period last year.
This is why the Chinese market, which accounted for half of the global battery market, has stagnated. This has dealt the hardest blow to Chinese battery makers such as CATL and BYD.
On the other hand, LG Chem and two other South Korean battery makers -- Samsung SDI and SK Innovation -- continued to grow in positive territory, growing more than double digits. LG Chem, in particular, saw its market share increase sharply from January to November this year, ranking third globally.
LG Chem expects sales of electric vehicle batteries to be around 5 trillion won this year and 10 trillion won next year. LG Chem’s total order backlog for electric vehicle batteries so far is 150 trillion won worth.
Panasonic of Japan, ranking second in the market share following CATL, also saw its October usage drop 37.8 percent from the same period last year.
CATL maintained its top position in the global electric vehicle battery market this year with 26.7 percent, while Panasonic (17.5 percent) and LG Chem (14.2 percent) ranked second and third. BYD (6.2 percent) and Samsung SDI (5.5 percent) followed. SK Innovation ranked ninth with 2.7 percent.
