MUNICH (Reuters) -Chinese language battery maker CATL’s new plant in Hungary is predicted to start out manufacturing by early subsequent 12 months, its basic supervisor for Europe mentioned on Sunday, as the corporate appears to be like to the area for development.
CATL invested 7.3 billion euros ($8.55 billion) within the plant within the jap metropolis of Debrecen, in search of to increase battery manufacturing in Europe for automakers corresponding to BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen.
The brand new web site would dwarf CATL’s present European battery manufacturing facility within the German state of Thuringia, with a deliberate annual manufacturing capability of 100 gigawatt-hours and a 9,000-strong workforce.
CATL’s basic supervisor for Europe Matt Shen informed Reuters the present objective was to start out manufacturing at Decrecen “on the finish of this 12 months or starting of the subsequent 12 months, so the subsequent 4, 5 months”.
The corporate had initially hoped to launch manufacturing by the top of 2025.
CATL is one in every of many Chinese language gamers attending this 12 months’s IAA Mobility automotive present in Munich, which formally kicks off on Tuesday, as European carmakers battle to maintain up within the shift to electrical automobiles.
CATL has been extending its lead within the EV battery market, with a 38% share globally in 2024, up from 36% a 12 months earlier, in accordance with knowledge from SNE Analysis.
The corporate raised $4.6 billion in its Hong Kong inventory alternate debut in Could, which helped fund the Hungarian undertaking.
Shen shrugged off considerations about sluggish demand for EVs in Europe.
“There are all the time some fluctuations,” he mentioned. “For the general pattern, there isn’t any doubt about that.”
($1 = 0.8535 euros)
(Reporting by Rachel Extra; Enhancing by Susan Fenton)
