Park Jae-hyuk is a seasoned journalist who has provided comprehensive coverage of South Korea's corporate dynamics, economic policies, industry challenges and the global positioning of Korean companies. Based on the articles he has written since joining The Korea Times in 2016, his investigative approach has helped readers understand corporate governance, economic trends and business strategies shaping South Korea’s economy.
Samsung SDI, GM to establish $3 billion battery joint venture in US
Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho, left, and General Motors CEO Mary Barra / Courtesy of each company
By Park Jae-hyuk
By Park Jae-hyuk
Samsung SDI and General Motors (GM) announced on Tuesday that they agreed to establish a $3 billion joint venture in the U.S. to manufacture battery cells for electric vehicles (EV).
The announcement was made during President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Washington, D.C. for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden.
This also came a month after Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho met with GM CEO Mary Barra in Michigan to sign a memorandum of understanding over the establishment of the joint venture, seeking to take advantage of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
The Korean battery maker and GM said the joint venture will have an annual production capacity of more than 30 gigawatt hours. The prospective joint venture will aim to start mass production in 2026, according to Samsung SDI.
Through the plan, Samsung SDI seeks to boost its presence in the U.S. market by establishing a second battery manufacturing facility in the country, while securing GM as a new customer.
The joint venture will be dedicated to producing high-performance, nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical batteries that will be exclusively supplied to GM's upcoming electric vehicles, Samsung SDI said.
Both companies declined to discuss other details of the partnership, such as the location of the plant or the projected number of workers. However, thousands of jobs are expected to be created through the joint venture.
“It is a great pleasure to take the very first step to create a long-term industry-leading partnership with GM in the U.S. electric car market,” Choi said. “We will do our best to provide the products featuring the highest levels of safety and quality produced with our unrivalled technologies to help GM strengthen its leadership in the EV market.”
Barra said that GM's supply chain strategy for EVs is focused on scalability, resiliency, sustainability and cost-competitiveness.
“Our new relationship with Samsung SDI will help us achieve all these objectives,” she said. “The cells we will build together will help us scale our EV capacity in North America well beyond 1 million units annually.”
On the same day, Hyundai Motor Group and SK On also confirmed their plan to set up a joint venture to build a battery cell plant in the U.S. state of Georgia.