Chinese battery maker Gotion to locate a third of its production abroad by 2025

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -     Chinese battery maker Gotion High Tech Co said it plans to locate one-third of its production capacity outside  China by 2025 to meet the growing demand from overseas electric vehicle (EV) makers and energy storage household clients.

The company, based in Hefei in Anhui province, said in a statement on Tuesday that it plans to build a total battery production capacity of 300 gigawatt hours (GWh) in three years, reiterating a goal it first announced last year. In 2021, Gotion produced 16 GWh. 

The company said 100 GWh of its planned total capacity would be located overseas.

Chinese battery makers are accelerating expanding production in overseas markets where rivals such as Panasonic and LG Energy Solution are more dominant.

Gotion’s move also follows that of its Chinese competitor CATL, the world’s largest battery giant, which aims to start cell production at its German plant by the end of the year. CATL’s chairman Zeng Yuqun said earlier that it is also exploring possibilities to localize production for overseas automakers in their countries.

Gotion, which counts Volkswagen as its largest single investor, said it will start building its first overseas battery plant in Gottingen, Germany by the end of this year and aims to start production earliest next September.

The plant, which will be upgraded from an old facility Gotion bought from Bosch last year, will develop and manufacture batteries for uses in EVs and energy storage in Europe.

The company also unveiled its first series of energy storage products for overseas markets on Monday.     

Gotion, the fourth biggest EV battery maker in China by sales volume, supplies its lithium-iron phosphate batteries to carmakers including Volkswagen and Tata Group.

(This story corrects last sentence in second paragraph to show 2021 output, not capacity)

 (Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)