CATL, Gotion High-Tech and Rivals Accelerate Overseas Factory Construction
Many Chinese battery firms have recently announced their construction of new overseas factories. In September, CATL and SVOLT revealed that they would build their second overseas battery factory in Europe. In addition, companies such as Envision AESC, Gotion High-Tech and EVE Energy have all accelerated their pace of international expansion and factory construction.
On September 9, SVOLT held a press conference in Brandenburg, Germany, announcing that it would build a battery cell factory serving the European market in the Rauchhammer area of the state. The company has previously announced its construction of a battery pack factory in Saarland, Germany. According to the company, the location advantage of the new plant will help it accelerate its service to local customers and expand production capacity in Europe.
SEE ALSO: SVOLT to Build Second Overseas Battery Factory
SVOLT was originally a power battery division established in 2016 by Great Wall Motor, a traditional Chinese automobile manufacturer. According to China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance, in the first eight months of this year, SVOLT’s installed capacity was 3.86 GWh, ranking sixth among all Chinese battery enterprises.
Before SVOLT announced its construction of a second power battery factory in Europe, CATL announced the signing of a pre-purchase agreement with Debrecen, Hungary, and the Hungarian factory project of CATL officially kicked off. This is the industry giant’s second factory in Europe. In April this year, CATL announced that its first overseas factory in Thuringia, Germany, had obtained an 8GWh battery cell production license.
In addition, in March this year, EVE Energy announced that it had signed a letter of intent with a subsidiary of the Debrecen Municipal Government in Hungary to purchase land and build a battery factory to produce new cylindrical power batteries. In June, Gotion High-Tech unveiled its battery factory in Germany.
According to China Securities Journal, industry insiders have said that the overseas investment and construction of production bases by Chinese companies is conducive to further improving production capacity layout, benefiting from the dividends of industrial clusters. This is also of great significance for firms in their efforts to expand overseas markets.
Europe has become an important area for Chinese battery enterprises to set up factories. Statistics from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) show that in the first half of this year, the sales volume of new energy passenger cars in Europe was 1.12 million, up 8.7% year-on-year. At the same time, Europe has gradually formed an NEV industry cluster.
In addition to the European market, North America has also attracted the attention of many Chinese battery firms. Envision AESC announced in April this year that it will build a new battery factory in Kentucky, USA, with a planned production capacity of 30GWh and potential to expand to 40GWh.
