CATL holds No. 1 spot; 7 Chinese firms claim 72.2% share

LG Energy Solution up 8.3%, retains third place

Global electric vehicle battery usage. [Provided by SNE Research]
Global electric vehicle battery usage. [Provided by SNE Research]

Global battery usage in electric vehicles posted double-digit growth in the first four months of this year, with Chinese battery makers further consolidating their market dominance.

Total battery usage in electric vehicles — including battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid models — registered worldwide from January through April reached 352.7 gigawatt-hours, up 13.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to market research firm SNE Research.

China's CATL led the market with 141.4 GWh, a 19.8 percent increase year-on-year, lifting its market share by 2.0 percentage points to 40.1 percent. BYD ranked second with 50.0 GWh, though its usage slipped 2.4 percent from a year earlier while its share held at 14.2 percent.

Together, CATL and BYD accounted for 54.3 percent of the global EV battery market, meaning the two Chinese companies alone command more than half of worldwide demand.

Among South Korean manufacturers, LG Energy Solution held third place with 32.0 GWh, up 8.3 percent year-on-year. However, that growth trailed the overall market rate, pushing its share down from 9.5 percent to 9.1 percent. LG Energy Solution supplies batteries to Tesla, Hyundai Motor Group, General Motors and Volkswagen, among others.

SK On recorded 12.3 GWh, down 7.9 percent year-on-year, with its share falling from 4.3 percent to 3.5 percent. The company supplies batteries to Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, but analysts say the results reflect softening EV demand in North America and Europe.

Japan's Panasonic posted 12.0 GWh, down 3.7 percent year-on-year, to rank seventh. The decline is attributed in part to shifts in sales trends at Tesla, its key customer.

Chinese manufacturers, by contrast, posted strong gains across the board. CALB surged 39.3 percent to 18.1 GWh to claim fourth place, while Gotion rose 30.2 percent to 15.6 GWh for fifth. EVE (11.5 GWh), SVOLT (9.3 GWh) and Sunwoda (8.7 GWh) also recorded double-digit growth, each expanding their market share.

Seven of the top 10 global battery makers were Chinese firms, and their combined share reached 72.2 percent — up 2.1 percentage points from the same period a year earlier.

SNE Research said Chinese companies, led by CATL, are expanding their share in the domestic market by leveraging a strong home base and rapid product transitions. The firm added that future competition in the battery market will move beyond simple volume growth and center on supply chain resilience, customer diversification and product portfolio strength.


eyre@heraldcorp.com