Ford, LG New Energy and Türkiye Koc give up building a battery joint venture factory

According to Reuters, on November 10, Koc Holding of Türkiye said that it had cancelled the battery joint venture factory agreement with Ford Motor and Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution.

In February of this year, Ford Motor Company, LG New Energy, and Koc Holdings signed a non binding memorandum of understanding. If the parties can reach a final agreement, a new joint venture will be established to build a new battery factory near Ankara, Türkiye. Ford stated at the time that the factory would be one of the largest commercial electric vehicle battery factories in Europe.

Last week, Koc Holdings stated in a statement that "considering the current slower than expected popularity of electric vehicles, this is not the right time to invest in batteries." In addition, Koc Holdings also stated that it will continue to be committed to supporting the production of electric vehicles at Ford's Kocaeli factory and will evaluate potential battery investments in the future based on the dynamics of the electric vehicle market.

LG New Energy stated that due to the slow pace of consumer adoption of electrified products, the three companies have unanimously agreed to abandon the plan. LG New Energy stated that "LG New Energy and Ford are jointly developing a plan to utilize LG New Energy's existing production facilities to produce batteries for Ford's electric vehicles, deepening the long-term business relationship between the two companies

LG New Energy supplies electric vehicle batteries to companies such as Ford, General Motors, Tesla, and has production bases in the United States, South Korea, China, Poland, Indonesia, and Canada.

More and more car manufacturers and suppliers are cautious about the demand for electric vehicles. In October, LG New Energy warned that due to global economic uncertainty affecting the sales prospects of electric vehicles, its revenue growth in 2024 would slow down.