To Move into the U.S. Market
With LG Energy Solution cooperating with General Motors (GM) and SK Innovation with Ford, expectations are growing that Samsung SDI may cooperate with Stellantis, the third-largest automaker in the United States.
Stellantis held Electric Vehicle Day on June 8 (local time) and took the wraps off its roadmap for electric vehicles. Just as major automakers did, Stellantis also announced a plan to secure batteries. Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest automaker, was created through a merger between the United States’ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and France's Peugeot Citroen Group (PSA). The company has a total of 14 car brands.
Samsung SDI is mentioned as a possible partner of Stellantis because FCA was one of Samsung SDI’s major customers before the merger. As Stellantis said it will launch all new models as electric vehicles starting from 2025, it is faced with the task to secure a stable battery supplier.
Unlike LG and SK, Samsung SDI does not have a cell production plant so cooperation with Stellantines is vital to making a foray into the U.S. market, analysts say. Although Samsung SDI is supplying batteries to some electric vehicle startups such as Rivian, it is not a large-scale supply. Industry experts predict that Stellantis will soon place orders for batteries to be used for electric vehicle models such as the Jeep and the Chrysler. They predict that the amount of supply will reach 28GWh in 2024.