BMW Production Plant Scheduled for Kaliningrad

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

The launch of new plant with full production capabilities for BMW SUVs is planned for July 2021. According to Kaliningrad officials, the new plant is one of the most important investment projects in the regional processing industry. Autotor holding makes up a significant part of the regional production.

Officials said the enterprise is one of the largest employers and taxpayers in Kaliningrad region. Construction of the plant building is underway, and machinery installation will be started in January 2021. The first car is expected to be produced in July 2021.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck Happenings in Europe

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

We have heard during the past few years that battery electric commercial trucks will ultimately replace the diesel-powered internal combustion engine for commercial trucks.  At some point in the future this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers, but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment? 

Currently, the lack of charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries will be a significant deterrent to mass adoption of long-haul battery electric trucks. 

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Hyundai Motor and LG Energy To Build Battery Plant in U.S.

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solutions said they plan to build a joint automotive battery plant in the United States.

They will split the total investment of $4.3 billion (about 600 billion yen) on a 50-50 basis and plan to start operations by the end of 2025. As conditions for EV subsidies in the U.S. become clearer, several local investment plans are in the works.

The new plant will be built in Bryan County, Georgia. With a standard production capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours per year, it will be able to supply batteries for approximately 300,000 EVs. In addition to Hyundai Motor’s dedicated EV plant in Georgia, the plant will also supply batteries to Kia’s plant in Georgia and Hyundai Motor’s plant in Alabama.

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South Korea’s SK and LG to Build EV Battery Plant in the U.S. Joint Venture in the Gap between U.S.-China Conflict

South Korean automotive battery giants are moving into the U.S. market, with SK Innovation teaming up with Ford and LG Chemical with GM to promote the construction of an automotive battery plant. SK plans to invest about 300 billion yen in the plant to produce 22 gigawatt-hours of automotive batteries, enough to power 220,000 EVs a year, and in a joint venture with Ford, the two companies will invest 600 billion yen to build a giant 60-gigawatt plant.

SK’s annual production capacity as of 2019 is only 5 gigabytes at its Korean plant. The capacity is expected to increase to 30 gigawatts in 2020 with the launch of plants in China and Hungary, to 85 gigawatts in 2023 with the addition of the US plant, and to exceed 185 gigawatts in 2025 with the addition of the joint venture with Ford. SK, a late entrant to the market, ranks sixth with a 5% share of the global market in 2020.

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Hyundai Plant in St Petersburg To Reduce Production by 15%

Hyundai plans to reduce annual production by 15% at its St Petersburg plant, according to plant director A. Kossack. As he notes, production volume at the plant has dropped significantly this year: in H1 2020, the plant produced only 73,000 cars, 25% of its production capacity.

Taking into consideration September’s output of 24,000 cars, total production volume through the end of the year should reach about 200,000 vehicles, almost 15% below the 2019 results. The plant has just returned to a three-shift working schedule. During the post-quarantine period, the plant working on a two-shift basis, making 700 cars per day. 

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PSR Analysis: It appears that the most pessimistic forecasts for the passenger car market to drop 40-50% are not going to be realized. Despite this outlook, Hyundai remains positive about the Russian market, and plans to start engine production here in 2021.    PSR

Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant, Russia, for Power Systems Research

Hyundai Motor and LG Chem To Build $1.1 Billion EV battery Plant in Indonesia

Hyundai Motor and LG Chem have announced they will build a battery plant for EVs in Indonesia. The investment of $1.1 billion will be shared equally. The plant will mass produce batteries in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, and supply them to Hyundai Motor and Kia’s complete vehicle plants around the world. The new plant will be established on a 330,000 square meter site in an industrial park in the Karawang region, about 65 kilometers southeast of central Jakarta. Construction will begin by the end of this year and mass production will begin in 2024.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, enough to supply batteries for 150,000 EVs. Hyundai and Kia have a plan to launch a total of 23 new EV models in the next five years. In order to expand the range to include sedans, SUVs, and the Genesis luxury brand, stable procurement of batteries, a key component, has been an issue. The company’s first joint venture plant will lead to a long-term shift to EVs.

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Truck News: Ask The Expert

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

What changes do you see in the PSR Truck Production Index in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of 2020?

Overall, we are seeing stronger momentum for commercial truck orders and sales which bode well for production in Q1 2021.

Supply chain issues will impact short term production as companies are still having difficulty with staffing numbers and various virus protocols that disrupt production. These problems are expected to continue throughout at least the first half of the year.

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Malaysia’s Proton Considers Building EV Plant in Thailand

SOUTHEAST ASIA: MALAYSIA REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Malaysian state-owned carmaker Proton is considering building an EV plant in Thailand, according to reports from Thailand government officials. The Thai government has long focused on promoting related industries.

At a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, where he is visiting, the Thai Prime Minister said, “I hope we can confirm clear steps to invite the plant and proceed quickly,” and indicated that he plans to work out the details with the parties involved soon. The amount of investment and production capacity were not disclosed.

Proton was established in 1983 as a national policy to revive Malaysia’s automotive industry. Currently, the company is rushing to switch to EVs after receiving an investment from Geely, a private Chinese automotive giant.

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Korea’s SK Battery To Supply Hyundai’s U.S. Plant

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Korean battery giant SK Innovation announced that it will expand its supply of batteries to Hyundai Motor Group in North America, and the two companies will discuss the construction of a joint venture plant to increase supply after 2025. SK Innovation says it plans to support Hyundai Motor Group’s increased EV production in North America.

In addition to EV production at its existing Alabama plant, Hyundai Motor plans to start operations of a dedicated EV plant in Georgia by 2025. Kia Motors, a group company, will also increase EV production in Georgia, as stable procurement of batteries, a key component of EVs, has become an issue.

SK On, a battery subsidiary of SK Innovation, already supplies batteries for Hyundai Motor’s mainstay Ioniq EV series. In the U.S., SK On produces batteries at its existing Georgia plant, and after consulting with Hyundai Motor, the company will decide whether to expand the plant or establish a new joint venture plant.

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Q1 2021 Truck Production Report

In this episode of PSR PowerTALK, Chris Fisher, senior commercial vehicle analyst at Power Systems Research, talks about the reasons for the 42.5% first quarter 2021 drop in global truck production.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast, produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 Joe Delmont:

From Power systems Research I’m Joe Delmont, editor of PSR PowerTALK. Today we’ll discuss global truck production with Chris Fisher, PSR, senior commercial vehicle analyst.

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