What’s new: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) (300750.SZ) has secured a three-year contract as the preferred supplier of Dongfeng Motor Group Co. Ltd.’s electric off-road vehicle subsidiary, as the battery giant fights to keep market share in the competitive Chinese market.
CATL will supply the M Hero brand with its power cell products and related services until 2026. The companies will also jointly develop new types of batteries and explore the application of ultra-fast charging batteries, according to a CATL statement Thursday.
As part of the deal, the luxury M-Hero 917 SUV, the brand’s sole model, will be emblazoned with “CATL Inside,” the first car to bear this insignia, the statement said.
The background: “CATL Inside” is similar to Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s Huawei Inside (HI) business model, in which vehicles running the tech giant’s smart driving systems add HI to their model names.
The move will help CATL increase its brand awareness among consumers, in turn prompting carmakers to choose CATL as their key supplier, analysts said.
In the first 11 months of 2023, CATL remained China’s No. 1 electric-vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer by installed capacity, but its market share shrank to 42.91% from 48.02% in the same period of 2022, according to the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.
The company also remained the world’s largest EV-battery maker by installed capacity in the first 10 months, cornering 36.9% of the market, up from 35.2% in the same period the previous year, according to South Korea-based SNE Research. BYD Co. Ltd. and LG Energy Solution Ltd. controlled 15.8% and 13.8% of the global market, respectively.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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