*Author: Dazhao
Introduction
Nowadays, buying an electric car is not just about what kind of material batteries are used, but also about whose batteries are used, marking the rise of brand premium capabilities in the power battery market after a round of shuffling period.
The article on the global power battery rankings in February received a lot of attention, indicating that people still care about the power battery market. In this issue, we will continue to look at the data for March. During the May Day period, SNE updated the global power battery installation data for March. This time, we focus on the installation amount and market share, and made the following list.
According to SNE’s statistics, the global power battery installation in March was a total of 22.1 GWh, and the cumulative installation from January to March was 48 GWh, an increase of 128.6% year-on-year. This indicates that although the power battery market has gone through a round of shuffling period, it is still in a period of high-speed growth, highlighting the Matthew effect that mature markets only have strong players.
This is particularly evident in CATL, which has achieved an impressive result this year. In the first quarter of this year, CATL installed 15.1 GWh worldwide, ranking first, with a year-on-year growth rate of 320.8%, also ranking first among the top six global power battery manufacturers. Due to its strong performance in the first quarter, CATL’s market share in the first quarter of this year rose from 17%, ranking third last year, to 31.5%, ranking first.
Yes, the familiar CATL is back. Last year, there was a saying in the new energy industry that car companies were leaving CATL behind. The above data proves that CATL is still a hard currency in the new energy sector.
With CATL’s return, Chinese batteries have made a comprehensive comeback, including BYD, CALB, and Guoxuan High-Tech, all of which have not only grown much higher than the industry average of 128.6% but also all increased their market share. Looking at the top 10 list, Chinese battery market share has increased from 23.6% last year to 43.4% this year, an increase of nearly 20 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Japanese and Korean batteries have been slipping, parallel to the strong comeback of Chinese batteries. The year-on-year growth rates of LG Energy Solution, Panasonic, Samsung SDI, SKI, AESC, and PEVE are all generally lower than the industry’s average growth rate of 128.6%, among which the Japanese battery AESC was the only one with a negative growth rate. In terms of market share, Panasonic in the first tier declined by nearly 10 percentage points. As for LG Energy Solution, if it were not for the Model Y’s hot sales in the Chinese market, its market share decline would be even greater.
In fact, behind the changes in power battery installation, it not only reflects the trends in the new energy vehicle market but also reflects the quality of battery cells.The sharp decline in Panasonic’s market share was an inevitable result of its failure to follow Tesla’s global strategy, especially in the Chinese market, where the hot sales of Model 3 directly boosted the success of CATL. Missing this critical strategic opportunity means uncertainty for Panasonic’s future, especially since Tesla’s battery will hit the market next year.
In comparison to Panasonic’s strategic mistake, LG new energy failed due to its own battery quality issues, resulting in 14 consecutive spontaneous combustion incidents of the Hyundai Kona EV, as well as the Chevrolet BOLT and the Ford KUGA PHEV, which were also affected by fire and other malfunctions. The unreliable LG new energy battery led Hyundai to switch battery orders to another Korean battery manufacturer, SKI.
From the electric power perspective, buying an electric car now is not just about material batteries, but also about which battery manufacturer is used. After a round of shuffling, the power battery market has initially formed the capability of brand premiums. In reality, some consumers are already valuing the brand of the battery, which is a positive shift.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.