![\"LG](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-p.v1.20260302.6ec9670885234e9ca641f0dedbecbc9b_P1.jpg\"\/ "\\"K-Batteries")
LG Energy Solution’s booth at InterBattery 2026. Photo courtesy of LG Energy Solution<\/p>\nLG Energy Solution’s booth at InterBattery 2026. Photo courtesy of LG Energy Solution<\/p>\n
LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) will supply pure electric vehicle batteries to BMW for the first time, while Samsung SDI (006400.KS) has secured Mercedes-Benz as a new customer. Korea’s battery industry, which has struggled with the EV chasm \u2014 a temporary slowdown in demand \u2014 is preparing to emerge from its downturn by strengthening partnerships with German automakers.<\/p>\n
According to the battery industry on Tuesday, LG Energy Solution said at its first-quarter earnings call the previous day that it had “secured new orders of more than 100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) for the 46-series (cylindrical batteries with a 46-millimeter diameter) in the first quarter.”<\/p>\n
The newly secured volume is expected to be installed entirely in BMW’s next-generation electric vehicles. The contract is valued at around 10 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with the supply period reportedly lasting about 10 years.<\/p>\n
This marks the first time LG Energy Solution will supply batteries for BMW’s pure electric vehicles. Until now, it had supplied only hybrid batteries. The company has also been providing 46-series cylindrical batteries to Germany’s Mercedes-Benz, the U.S.-based Rivian, and China’s Chery Automobile.<\/p>\n
Including this contract, LG Energy Solution’s 46-series order backlog will expand to 440 GWh, a scale that far exceeds 40 trillion won in value.<\/p>\n
Earlier on April 20, Samsung SDI signed a multi-year contract with Mercedes-Benz to supply next-generation EV batteries. The exact supply volume was not disclosed, but the industry estimates the deal is worth more than 10 trillion won over a period of at least five years.<\/p>\n
Through this contract, Samsung SDI will supply prismatic high-nickel NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) batteries to Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes plans to install them in small and mid-sized electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and coupe models. High-nickel NCM batteries deliver high energy density, enabling longer driving range, extended lifespan, and high-output performance.<\/p>\n
The battery industry plans to break out of the slump through such expansion in EVs, along with energy storage systems (ESS), which have emerged as a cash cow. LG Energy Solution posted first-quarter revenue of 6.555 trillion won and an operating loss of 207.8 billion won. Samsung SDI also reported a loss, with first-quarter revenue of 3.5764 trillion won and an operating loss of 155.6 billion won.<\/p>\n
However, the industry expects a turnaround starting in the second quarter. According to financial information provider FnGuide, LG Energy Solution’s second-quarter operating profit is estimated at 98.5 billion won. Earnings are projected to grow further in the second half, bringing annual operating profit to an estimated 1.2276 trillion won. The figure is expected to expand to 4.2224 trillion won next year and 6.9576 trillion won the year after.<\/p>\n
Samsung SDI is expected to post a loss of 82.4 billion won in the second quarter before swinging to an operating profit of 148.8 billion won in the fourth quarter. Operating profit is projected to reach 1.3269 trillion won next year.<\/p>\n
“A severe chill hit Korea’s battery industry as the North American EV market weakened, but companies are expanding their customer base and creating new revenue streams during a period of recovering demand centered on Europe,” an industry official said. “Combined with ESS demand that will continue through 2030, the battery industry’s earnings growth will accelerate further.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LG Energy Solution’s booth at InterBattery 2026. Photo courtesy of LG Energy Solution LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[757,754,756,760,758,759,315,747,733,755,753],"class_list":["post-719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lg-energy-solution","tag-46-series-cylindrical-battery","tag-bmw","tag-ev-battery","tag-ev-chasm","tag-high-nickel-ncm","tag-korea-battery-industry","tag-lg","tag-lg-energy","tag-lg-energy-solution","tag-mercedes-benz","tag-samsung-sdi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}