The global electric vehicle battery market, excluding China, has continued its strong growth trend, reaching close to 40 percent growth last year. While the battery usage by the three major K-battery companies increased significantly, their market share saw a slight decline.
According to SNE Research on Feb. 13, the total usage of electric vehicle batteries globally, excluding China, recorded 319.4 GWh last year. This represents a growth of 43.2 percent compared to the previous year in 2022 when it was 223 GWh.
The battery usage of the three major K-Battery companies also saw a significant increase.
Last year, LG Energy Solution supplied the most batteries in the non-Chinese electric vehicle market with a usage of 88.6 GWh. This marked a 32.9 percent increase compared to the previous year.
SK on recorded 34.1 GWh, securing the 4th position, while Samsung SDI recorded 32.4 GWh, securing the 5th position. SK on’s battery usage rose by 14.4 percent compared to the previous year, while Samsung SDI’s increased by 37.2 percent. Particularly, Samsung SDI showed the highest growth rate among the three companies.
Despite the continued growth of the three major K-battery companies, their market share declined. The battery usage market share of the top three K-battery companies decreased by 5.3 percentage points from the previous year to a total of 48.6 percent. This decline is attributed to the pursuit of global battery companies, including Chinese firms.
In particular, the growth of CATL and BYD in China stood out. CATL’s battery usage market share rose to 27.5 percent, marking a 4.7 percentage point increase compared to the previous year. BYD recorded a market share of 2.1 percent, which increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.
SNE Research evaluated, “Chinese companies are showing higher growth rates in the global market than in the domestic market, rapidly expanding their market share.”
CATL leverages its manufacturing technology for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to supply major OEM vehicles including Tesla, BMW, MG, and Volvo. In particular, BYD emphasizes its vertical integration in supply chain management, including battery supply and vehicle manufacturing, to establish a competitive advantage in pricing.
Furthermore, Panasonic from Japan showed a decreased market share of 14.0 percent, down by 1.8 percentage points compared to the previous year. Despite the decrease in market share, Panasonic’s battery usage increased by 26.8 percent to 44.6 GWh compared to the previous year. Especially noteworthy is Panasonic’s position as one of Tesla’s key suppliers as it is known to release 2170 and 4680 cells. Therefore, there are expectations that Panasonic will expand its market share, focusing on supplying Tesla.
An official from SNE Research stated, "It is expected that the price-centric shift in the electric vehicle market this year will intensify competition among automakers to lower prices in order to survive. Attention is particularly focused on the competitive development of battery technology and the secure procurement strategy of essential minerals by domestic companies.”