LG Energy Solution-Ford-Turkey venture
LG Energy Solution joins Ford, Koc for Turkey battery venture
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES) said Wednesday it has signed an initial agreement with Ford Motor Co. and Turkey's Koc Holding A.S. to push for a joint venture to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Turkey.
The announcement came after the Turkish conglomerate confirmed in a filing earlier this month the partnership with the U.S. automaker and South Korean battery maker SK On Co. had ended.
It has been widely speculated that LGES will likely be their new partner.
The memorandum of understanding commits the three companies to push for building an EV battery manufacturing facility in Baskent, a city near the Turkish capital of Ankara, LGES said in a release.
The factory, which is set to begin commercial operations in 2026, initially will have a production capacity of 25 gigawatt hours (GWh) before its annual output is expanded to 45 GWh, the battery maker said.
The output from the plant will be supplied to Ford for its commercial vehicles. Ford and Koc have a joint venture in Turkey that produces 450,000 commercial cars annually and most of them are being sold in Europe.
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