Power batteries are core components of new energy vehicles, and automakers are constantly striving to reduce costs and improve performance. The partnership between the two parties has a profound impact on their respective market shares.
Information released by the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation on September 19th showed that Xinwangda Power Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xinwangda Power"), a subsidiary of Xinwangda Electronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xinwangda", 300207.SZ), a well-established lithium battery company founded nearly 30 years ago, and Beijing Ideal Auto Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Ideal") will establish a joint venture with a 50:50 investment ratio.
According to public information, Sunwoda Power and Beijing Ideal have signed a joint venture agreement to establish a joint venture. The joint venture will primarily engage in the production, manufacturing, and sales of lithium-ion power batteries for electric vehicles. Following this transaction, Beijing Ideal and Sunwoda Power will hold 50% and 50% equity in the joint venture, respectively.
Two nearly simultaneous developments from Li Auto have garnered market attention. In addition to establishing a power battery joint venture with Sunwoda Power, Li Auto also signed a five-year comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement on September 18 with CATL, which holds the largest market share in the power battery market.
According to CATL, the two companies will collaborate in areas such as battery safety and supercharging technology, jointly expanding their domestic and international business and promoting battery technology innovation and global expansion. CATL stated that as a long-term partner, it will provide high-performance, high-safety, and high-quality power battery systems for Li Auto's entire product line, including but not limited to ternary lithium batteries, M3P batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, and sodium-ion batteries, injecting core momentum into Li Auto's pursuit of a high-end intelligent electric experience.
CATL provides a statistic: To date, Li Auto, equipped with CATL batteries, has delivered over one million vehicles, with no thermal runaway incidents caused by the batteries themselves. For reference, Li Auto's latest announcement on September 1st indicated that as of August 31st of this year, its cumulative deliveries reached 1,397,070 vehicles (approximately 1.397 million units).
Compared to CATL, Sunwoda, a second-tier power battery manufacturer, is currently smaller. The latest data from the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance shows that from January to August this year, my country's cumulative installed power battery capacity reached 417.9GWh, a year-on-year increase of 43.1%. CATL, which ranks first in market share, installed 178.16GWh, accounting for 42.74% of the total installed capacity; Sunwoda, ranked sixth, installed 13.76GWh, accounting for 3.30%.
Shenzhen-based Sunwoda, a veteran of China's lithium-ion battery industry, was founded in 1997 by brothers Wang Mingwang and Wang Wei, both from Maoming, Guangdong. Initially focused on consumer battery packs, the company officially entered the automotive power battery market in 2008, establishing Automotive Power Battery Co., Ltd. that year. As of the first half of this year, consumer batteries remained Sunwoda's largest business segment, accounting for 51.47% of revenue, while power batteries accounted for 28.18%.
Public information shows that the cooperation between Sunwoda and Li Auto began nearly eight years ago. Sunwoda has mentioned that since the first connection between Sunwoda Power and Li Auto in 2017, the two sides have been collaborating deeply in R&D, quality, manufacturing, delivery, and customer service.
In 2022, amidst a severe battery shortage, Ideal Auto expanded its power battery supply chain and further expanded its collaboration with Sunwoda. That year, Chongqing Chezhiyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd., an affiliated venture capital firm of Ideal Auto, invested 400 million yuan in Sunwoda Power, now holding a 2.14% stake. In fact, Sunwoda Power's shareholder list includes NIO, Xpeng, and Dongfeng Motor.
Xinwangda's Hong Kong stock prospectus shows that as of the end of March this year, Ideal Auto was one of Xinwangda's top five customers, contributing 5.8% of its revenue.
For large-scale automakers, the controllability of power battery supply has always been a key issue.
Earlier this year, Geely announced the integration of its battery business, establishing Geely Battery (Gibrones) as a subsidiary. This merger of the existing BRICS and SHIELD batteries will be unified under the SHIELD BRICS brand, integrating Geely's in-house developed and produced battery safety system (SHIELD) with its battery cell products (Gibrones). Following the integration, Geely Battery will focus on the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) SHIELD technology, aiming to achieve 70GWh of battery production capacity by 2027, sufficient to power one million new energy vehicles.
For power battery suppliers, it is even more important to continuously consolidate their ties with customers amid increasingly fierce market competition.
Even leading automaker CATL is innovating. In June of this year, CATL officially commenced production on two CTP2.0 high-end battery pack production lines at the SERES Gigafactory. This marked the first time CATL has adopted a "factory-within-a-factory" collaboration model to supply power battery systems for the localized production of the EV series. This initiative is considered a revolution in CATL's supply and delivery model.
