The battle for overseas market share of power batteries in 2023: CATL is chasing after it! BYD is soaring

Recently, data from SNE Research, a Korean research institution, shows that in 2023, the total usage of electric vehicle batteries sold globally (excluding China) will be approximately 319.4GWh, an increase of 43.2% compared with the same period in 2022.

It is worth mentioning that in the ranking of companies with installed electric vehicle battery sales globally (excluding China), LGES remains first, with an increase of 32.9% compared to the same period in 2022, with installed capacity reaching 88.6GWh and market share. 27.8%.

In the global battery market outside China, CATL is slightly behind LGES with a difference of only 0.8GWh in installed vehicle volume, ranking second, with a total installed vehicle volume of 87.8GWh. Compared with the same period in 2022, CATL ranks second with a 72.5% share. Continued high growth threatens LGES's leading position, with a market share of 27.5%.

SNE said that Chinese companies, including CATL, have a higher growth rate in the global battery market outside China than in China's domestic market, thereby rapidly expanding their global market share. CATL's batteries are installed on vehicles from major automakers such as BMW, MG, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, including Tesla Model 3/Y (made in China and exported to Europe, North America and Asia). Recently, batteries from CATL have been installed in Hyundai's new Kona and Kia Ray electric vehicles. The influence of Chinese companies in the domestic market is gradually expanding.

Japan's Panasonic ranked third, with 44.6GWh of installed vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 26.8%, and its market share in the global battery market outside China in 2023 will reach 14%. As one of Tesla's main battery suppliers, Panasonic's improved 2170 and 4680 batteries are expected to expand its market share centered on Tesla in the future.

South Korean battery companies SK On and Samsung SDI ranked fourth and fifth respectively, with installed capacity of 34.1GWh and 32.4GWh respectively, a year-on-year increase of 14.4% and 37.2% respectively, and market shares of 10.7% and 10.2% respectively. According to SNE analysis, the growth of South Korea's three major battery companies is mainly due to the strong sales of battery-equipped models of their respective companies.

BYD (002594), another leading battery supplier in China, ranks sixth. Its market share will increase from 0.6% in 2022 to 2.1% in 2023. Its overseas installed capacity will rise to 6.8GWh, a year-on-year increase of 394.8%. It is the world's largest battery supplier. The one with the largest growth rate among the TOP 10 companies in the new energy vehicle power battery market (markets outside China).

In addition, Chinese battery company Funeng Technology has rapidly increased its installed capacity in the overseas battery market, with a year-on-year growth rate of 163.3%, with installed capacity reaching 5.2GWh, and its market share rising to 1.6%, ranking seventh.

Envision Power Battery's installed vehicle volume is also on the list of the TOP10 overseas markets in 2023, ranking ninth, with a market share of 1.1% and an installed vehicle volume of 3.6GWh.

Toyota and Panasonic's joint venture battery companies PPES and PEVE ranked eighth and tenth respectively, with installed capacity of 4.7GWh and 2.8GWh respectively, and market shares of 1.5% and 0.9% respectively. Among them, PPES will have the largest share of global batteries outside China in 2023 The market grew by 163.8% year-on-year, and PEVE grew by 38.9% year-on-year.

In addition to overseas battery installation data, SNE also previously announced global (including the Chinese market) new energy vehicle power battery installed capacity data in 2023. In 2023, the global installed capacity of registered electric vehicle (EV, PHEV, HEV) batteries will be approximately 705.5GWh, a year-on-year increase of 38.6%. Judging from the top 10 companies in global power battery installations, Chinese companies still occupy 6 seats, with a market share of 63.5% in 2023, a year-on-year increase from 59.6% in 2022. The combined market share of CATL and BYD is still more than half, reaching 52.6%.

SNE analysis shows that the growth rate of global electric vehicle market demand will slow down significantly in 2023, which will have an impact on the secondary battery industry in the downstream industry. Factors such as the need for early adopters to complete initial purchases, economic contraction due to continued high interest rates and prices, and lack of charging infrastructure are analyzed as factors slowing down the growth of demand in the electric vehicle market. While the slowdown in the EV market is expected to continue for some time, regulation of IRA subsidy payments will increase starting in 2024 and the number of models eligible for the tax credit will decrease. Whether the tax credit will be maintained depends on the U.S. presidential election. As a result, uncertainty also has a negative impact on demand for electric vehicles.

SNE believes that this year the electric vehicle market will turn to be price-centric, and competition among automakers to cut prices to survive is expected to intensify. Battery technology development and competition and key mineral supply chain stabilization strategies will receive much attention.