Following last year's four,, three primary suppliers including Valeo Kapec Co.,Ltd.
To increase production costs by 30% and induce bidding competition
Acceleration of 'Eco-friendly Vehicle Parts Eco
Hyundai Motor Group recently selected Valeo Kapec, Sungwoo HiTec, and Webasto Korea, its primary partners, as manufacturers and producers of Battery System Assembly (BSA), a battery pack. In line with the transition to the era of electrification such as electric vehicles, it seems that they are accelerating in inducing changes in the constitution of existing suppliers originally centered on internal combustion engines.
Hyundai Motor Group is adding three more companies this year to the four BSA partners which were selected last year, Sebang Global Battery, Sejong Industrial, Seoyon E-hwa, and Duckyang. They will each supply optimized battery packs to the next electric vehicle models of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, respectively.
Hyundai Motor Group has so far received electric vehicle battery modules and packs produced by its affiliate H Green power through Hyundai Mobis. However, it is reported that it plans to increase the proportion of existing primary suppliers' production to 30% as electricity lineups and production volume in the company gradually increases.
It is analyzed that there will be an advantage to induce suppliers to switch to the electrification business and secure price competitiveness through bidding competition.
The battery pack factory will be operating sequentially from this year, and it will manufacture and produce packs and systems based on the lithium-ion battery cells optimized for each electric vehicle model. The battery cells mainly used will be from LG Energy Solution and SK on Co. products, and Hyundai Mobis will be in charge of battery management systems (BMS).
Currently, Hyundai Motor Group's BSA partners are estimated to produce over 1 million battery packs annually.
An official from a partner company states, "Traditional internal combustion engine parts companies are also trying to supply eco-friendly car parts to find new food," adding, "An eco-friendly car parts ecosystem is being created mainly by Hyundai Motor's primary partners."
By staff reporter Tae-jun Park (gaius@etnews.com) and Jin-hyung Park (jin@etnews.com)