Moves to cancel or postpone joint ventures between battery manufacturers and finished car manufacturers, and demand for electric vehicles slows - South Korean report

According to Turkey's Koc Group, the company, battery giant LG Energy Solutions, and US automaker Ford concluded an agreement in February to develop batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) in Turkey.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the three companies for the establishment of a terry manufacturing factory will be withdrawn. Prior to this, Ford postponed its $12 billion (USD, approximately 1,818.3 billion yen) EV investment plan and announced that it would
Annual EV production has been reduced from 0,000 units to 400,000 units. Ford cited slowing EV sales as the reason for withdrawing the MOU.
In addition, General Motors (GM) in the US has postponed its plan to produce a total of 400,000 EVs between the middle of last year and the middle of next year.
These decisions by automakers also have an impact on battery manufacturers. LG Energy Solutions has announced the start-up date of its joint venture factory with GM in Tennessee, USA.
It has been postponed from the second half of the year to early next year. SK-ON and Ford are considering delaying the start of Blue Oval SK's second plant in Kentucky, which was originally scheduled for 2026.
A person involved in the battery industry said, ``Rather than building a new factory in a situation where EV demand is slowing, utilizing existing factories would save trillions of won in construction and investment costs, as well as securing and training skilled workers.
"It can save money and time."