World’s Fastest Growing Makers
LG Chem Ltd. and Samsung SDI Co. showed the steepest growth among global companies in 2017, making the top five electric vehicle (EV) battery producer list in the world.
According to market research firm SNE Research on Feb. 5, LG Chem and Samsung SDI ranked fourth and fifth in the world in terms of EV battery shipments in 2017. LG Chem moved up three notches from a year earlier, while Samsung SDI climbed four notches.
LG Chem posted 4.8GWh in EV battery shipments last year, up a whopping 158 percent from a year ago. Its market share surged from 4.3 percent to 8 percent. Samsung SDI’s shipments also grew 80.3 percent to 2.4GWh and its market share increased from 3.1 percent to 4.1 percent.
An official from SNE Research said, “The two companies showed a significant growth mainly due to a rise in sales of car models equipped with their batteries. LG Chem saw its global shipments grow with the increase in sales of the Hyundai Ioniq EV, the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Renault Zoe, while Samsung SDI benefited from the growing sales of the BMW i3 and the Volkswagen e-Golf.”
Japan’s Panasonic Corp. took first place in terms of shipments, followed by China’s CATL and BYD. Panasonic showed a 30.1 percent increase in shipments but its market share dropped 0.9 percent points to 16.7 percent.