SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung SDI (KRX:006400) has leaped into the Chinese market competition that is emerging as the world’s largest pool for electric vehicles.
On October 22, the completion ceremony for the EV battery plant was held at Gaoxin Industrial District within Xi’an, Shaanxi Province of China. Around 200 personnel came to celebrate the occasion, including Cho Nam Seong, CEO of Samsung SDI; Jang Won Ki, president of Samsung China; and Jiang Feng Vice Governor of Shaanxi Province.
In order to acquire the dominance and leadership in Chinese EV market, Samsung SDI became the first global battery manufacturer to construct an EV battery plant and initiate mass production in China.
The Xi’an plant has initiated its operation from September. It has finalized battery supply agreements with 10 local personal and commercial vehicle companies and is already delivering the goods. Some of these companies include Yutong, the leader of China’s and also the world’s bus industry and then Foton, the leader of China’s truck industry.
The finalized Samsung SDI Xi’an Plant is a cutting-edge production line that can manufacture high-performance electric vehicle (in standard of pure EVs) batteries for an amount of approximately 40 thousand cars a year. The plant is capable of carrying out the whole production process of EV battery cells and modules. Preparing for increased market demand in the future, Samsung SDI will invest – by adding production line, etc. – 600 million USD into the Xi’an battery plant until 2020 and aim to achieve 1 billion USD in sales.
Samsung SDI CEO Cho Nam Seong said in his welcoming address, “Xi’an is a starting point of Silk Road and is also a focal point of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative.” He added, “To go hand in hand with China’s time-honored tradition and future development strategy, we will bring up Xi’an plant to become the world center of EV battery industry.”
Anqing Ring New Group Chairman Pan Yi Xin said, “By integrating our expertise in the automotive business with Samsung SDI’s advanced technical capability, we will promote Xi’an Plant as the number one production base of EV battery.”
