According to Korean media ETNews, Samsung SDI's board of directors has finalized plans to invest 2 trillion won in Hungary to expand its electric vehicle battery production capacity.
According to industry sources, in addition to expanding the Hungarian plant, Samsung SDI will also expand its production capacity to 60GWh/year in the second half of next year.
Samsung SDI to invest an additional KRW2 trillion in Hungary to expand electric vehicle battery production capacity
The 60GWh production will enable it to install high-capacity batteries in more than one million electric vehicles, the report said. Production could increase by 70-80% compared to the current capacity of the Hungarian plant.
Samsung SDI's investment in Europe is in response to the global automotive industry's demand for electric vehicle batteries. Although Samsung SDI has not disclosed specific investment projects for this programme, it is estimated that its investment in electric vehicle batteries over the past two years is close to KRW 3 trillion.
This investment is seen as a shift in Samsung SDI's strategy, which prioritises profitable growth. In the second quarter of this year, Samsung SDI achieved a record profit with an operating profit of over 400 billion won. The company is expanding its electric vehicle battery business with its own brand of high value-added electric vehicle batteries, PRiMX, as its core. Operating profit margin of 6% in the first half of the year was the highest in the Korean battery industry
