LG Chem came in at 4th and Samsung SDI came in at 6th in terms of battery for Global EV (Electric Vehicles) shipments from January to August in 2018

- It is necessary to find a way out to take action against the enormous offensive of companies in China and Japan

As of Jan-Aug 2018, while Panasonic topped the list in terms of battery shipments of Global EVs such as EV, PHEV and HEV, LG Chem and Samsung SDI in Korea were ranked in fourth and sixth respectively. In addition, CATL, BYD, and AESC were ranked in second, third and fifth respectively.

The total amount of batteries shipped to Global EV from January to August in 2018 has suddenly increased 78.9% to 44.2 GWh over the same period in the previous year.

The total amount of batteries in LG Chem was 3.8 GWh and the growth rate of shipments fell one notch from the third to fourth place year-on-year, with lower than the market average.

On the other hand, the total amount of batteries in Samsung SDI was 1.8 GWh and the growth rate of shipments only increased 27.6% year-on-year. It was also ranked from fifth to sixth place.

On the contrary, Chinese companies such as CATL, BYD, Farasis, and Lishen has achieved three-digit growth rate. As it turned out, they were in contrast with Korean companies that just achieved growth rate lower than the market average.





The growth rate of LG Chem and Samsung SDI was largely driven by increasing sales of battery built-in models of each company. For LG Chem, it was turned out to be shipments rise due to robust sales of Hyundai Kona EV, Chevrolet BOLT, and Smart ForTwo. For Samsung SDI, it was turned out to be shipments rise due to robust sales of Volkswagen e-Golf, BMW 530e, and Porsche Panamera.





Meanwhile, total shipments was 7.4 GWh and increased 65.1% year-on-year in August. While the market strength of Chinese and Japanese companies such as Panasonic, BYD, AESC, Lishen, Farasis and Wanxiang was continued, LG Chem remained the fourth place as in the previous year.

While the shipments of Samsung SDI decreased 15.9%, its ranking fell two notches because the sales volume of Samsung SDI’s battery built-in models including Volkswagen e-Golf has dropped significantly.

In August, the market strength of Chinese battery manufacturers has been constantly continuing while sales volume of Chinese EV continues to increase and Chinese Electric Commercial Vehicles are enormously decreased. In fact, as Chinese companies accounted for half of the TOP 10 in August and from January to August, they have still shown considerable position. Among them, Panasonic and AESC in Japan has shown steady growth as well.

In contrast, LG Chem and Samsung SDI in Korea are struggling because their ranking and market share have fallen due to the confrontation with strong offensive of Chinese and Japanese companies. It is urgent for the two companies to find a way out to fundamentally get over this situation in the future.