The world's first "ask supply" from the world's third！

On May 6, according to foreign media reports, LG?is negotiating with Toyota Motor on the supply of batteries in the United State,?LG?and Toyota are expected to finalize battery supply cooperation.

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The world's first "ask supply"?from?the world's third

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In fact, the cooperation between LG?and Toyota has been reported in 2022, and as the incident progresses, the released news becomes more specific.

On October 17, 2022, it was reported that LG?will supply electric vehicle batteries to Toyota. At that time, it was reported that LG?was negotiating with Toyota on the supply of batteries produced by its US factory to Toyota's US factory, and the two parties planned to sign a memorandum of understanding on battery supply within this year.

As soon as this news came out, it immediately aroused widespread concern in the industry.

When the time comes to 2023, media reports on the cooperation between LG?and Toyota revealed more details step by step.

On January 8, 2023, a report from BusinessKorea showed that LG?is inclined to supply batteries to Toyota instead of establishing a joint venture, and it is likely to supply pouch batteries to Toyota.

On March 27, Kwon Young Soo, CEO of LG, said on March 24 that the company is negotiating with Toyota to supply batteries for electric vehicles, Gasgoo reported. When asked about the progress of the talks with Toyota, Kwon Young Soo said: "The negotiation?are going well. We are discussing the cooperate?way."

Now, the latest reports suggest that the two companies are expected to finalize a battery supply tie-up. Judging from the details of the news released by each node, it is certain that LG?and Toyota are discussing cooperation.

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The data shows that in 2022, Toyota's cumulative global sales reach?9.567 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 0.50%. Although the sales volume has declined slightly, it still leads the Volkswagen Group (8.2826 million units, down 7% year-on-year), ranking first in the sales list of global auto companies for three consecutive years. In other words, Toyota, the world's number one vehicle?sales company, is about to join hands with LG, the world's No 3.

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Currently, Toyota is accelerating its electrification transformation. In 2022, Toyota's sales of pure electric vehicles will be 24,466; in the first quarter of this year, sales of pure electric vehicles will be 17,473. According to the plan, Toyota plans to introduce 30 pure electric models by 2030, with annual global sales of 3.5 million vehicles.

Corresponding to the supply of batteries, Toyota aims to ensure a battery capacity of 280GWh by 2030. At present, the battery suppliers of Toyota and its subsidiaries include Panasonic, BYD, CATL, and discussing supply cooperation with LG?is Toyota's move to achieve a diversified supply system. From this point of view, other manufacturers may enter Toyota's battery supply chain in the future, or expand the scope of cooperation with existing suppliers.

As far as LG?are concerned, if the cooperation with Toyota is successfully concluded, LG's new energy customer base will make great progress, and it will also include the world's top ten automakers in the bag, and provide Toyota, Volkswagen, Renault Nissan, Hyundai Motor, Kia, Stellantis, General Motors, Ford, BMW and Honda are supplying batteries.

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LG?falls to third place

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LG?mainly produces ternary batteries, and once firmly sat on the throne of "the world's No. 1 power battery". However, as lithium iron phosphate batteries are gradually sought after by the market, the gap between LG?and CATL is getting bigger and bigger. Large, and gradually overtaken by BYD, the global installed capacity ranking dropped to third place.

According to the latest data from SNE Research, in the first quarter of 2023, the global installed capacity of electric vehicle batteries will reach 133.0GWh, a year-on-year increase of 38.6%, a slight decrease from last year, but still maintaining a steady upward trend.

Among them, CATL's installed capacity was 46.6GWh, a year-on-year increase of 35.9%, and continued to top the list with a market share of 35%.

BYD surpassed LG?to rank second. BYD's installed vehicle volume was 21.5GWh, a year-on-year increase of 115.5%, and its market share was 16.2%; LG' installed vehicle volume was 19.3GWh, a year-on-year increase of 37.5%, but its market share dropped to 14.5%, ranking third .

It is not difficult to see that in the first quarter of this year, CATL and BYD's combined global market share exceeded 50%. On the one hand, it shows the strong position of China's new energy vehicle market, and the technology and products of China's power battery companies are well recognized by the market.

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On the other hand, LG?has not only been further distanced by CATL, but BYD has been catching up to catch up. Under the strong offensive of the front and rear attacks, it is very likely that it will be inferior to BYD in the future, and it may be difficult to catch up with the gap with the Ningde era for a while.

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Homemade "compound cold medicine"

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In order to narrow the gap and catch up to the number one position in the world, LG?is making its own "compound cold medicine" with multiple components in a multi-pronged approach, seeking to meet more needs and expand market share through multi-technical routes and multi-faceted cooperation.

In terms of technical route, last year, LG?canceled the development of square batteries and announced that it planned to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries at LG's Chinese factory in 2023.

In terms of capacity expansion and cooperation, on February 21 this year, LG?announced that it had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Ford Motor and Turkey's Koc Holding to establish a joint venture in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. ) to build a new battery factory nearby.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of at least 25 GWh, which could be increased to 45 GWh, according to commitments made by the three parties. The project is on track and is expected to break ground later this year, with production scheduled to begin in 2026.

On March 24, LG?also announced that it will invest 7.2 trillion won (approximately RMB 38.1 billion) in Arizona, USA to build a large-scale battery manufacturing park with a total production capacity of 43.3GWh. It includes a cylindrical battery factory (27GWh) and an ESS dedicated battery factory (16.3GWh).

Up to now, LG?has established 6 battery factories in North America, including 3 joint ventures with General Motors, 1 joint venture with Honda Motor, and 1 joint venture with Stellantis NV. Its plan to set up seven production bases in North America is still one step away.

On the 21st of last month, South Korea's "Dong-A Ilbo" reported that Hyundai Motor Group plans to establish an electric vehicle battery joint venture in the United States with LG?and SK On. At present, the cooperation with SK On has been announced, but there is no new news about the cooperation with LG.

It can be seen that LG?is continuously expanding its production capacity globally, and its planning will reach 540GWh by 2025.