Partnerships are on the uptick between North America’s No. 1 automaker General Motors (GM) and Korean companies. They started with electric vehicle batteries and are now expanding to battery materials and electronics and semiconductors.
GM Chairwoman Mary Barra, who made her first visit to Korea on Feb. 6, left for Japan on Feb. 7 after a short but significant visit. Barra met with key executives of Samsung Electronics and LG Chem to discuss cooperation across all areas of future vehicles.
At the LG Twin Tower in the Yeouido area of Seoul, Mary Barra met with LG Electronics President Cho Ju-wan and LG Energy Solution President Kim Dong-myung to discuss automotive electronics and batteries. LG Electronics’ automotive electronics division, which produces automotive displays and car infotainment systems, is one of LG Group’s future growth drivers. Last year, LG Electronics’ automotive electronics division crossed 10 trillion won in annual sales for the first time.
GM also signed a 25 trillion won (US$19 billion) contract to supply cathode materials with LG Chem on the day. This volume is enough to produce batteries for five million pure electric vehicles. The deal expands the two companies’ partnership from electric vehicle batteries to battery materials. Previously, GM and LG Chem finalized a comprehensive agreement on the long-term supply of cathode materials in July 2022. LG Chem will supply GM with North American cathode materials starting in 2026 when LG Chem’s Tennessee cathode plant will go live.
During her visit, Barra also met with key representatives of Samsung Electronics and others to discuss partnerships. Earlier on the same day, Barra visited Samsung’s Seocho headquarters in the Seocho district of Seoul where she met with Choi Yoon-ho, president of Samsung SDI; Choi Joo-sun, president of Samsung Display; Jang Deok-hyun, president of Samsung Electronics; and Lee Jung-bae, president of Samsung Electronics’ memory business. Barra reportedly discussed GM and Samsung’s ongoing battery joint venture in the United States as well as a potential collaboration in electronics including automotive displays and camera modules.
GM and Samsung SDI are building a battery joint venture plant in Indiana in the United States. The plant will be able to produce 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries per year with the beginning of volume production in 2026. The amount is enough to produce batteries for 500,000 electric vehicles. Samsung Electronics also included electronics in its four new business areas announced last month, and is expanding its supply of products such as multiple ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) for electronics and high-pixel camera modules for autonomous driving.
Harman CEO Michael Mauser, who orchestrates Samsung’s automotive electronics and audio business, flew into Seoul from the United States for the meeting. Harman officials reportedly demonstrated automotive electronics components in front of Barra. Samsung Electronics set up a separate exhibition booth full of automotive semiconductors, displays, and batteries in its Seocho office building for Barra’s visit.
The meeting is expected to expand cooperation between Samsung and GM from batteries to automotive semiconductors and displays. In particular, the automotive display market is growing rapidly in the era of electric vehicles.