Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong Meets with BMW Chairman to Strengthen Electric Vehicle Battery Cooperation

According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, met with Oliver Zipse, chairman of BMW Group, who was visiting South Korea on the 17th, and the two sides discussed cooperation matters. This is the second meeting between the two since Lee Jae-yong went on a business trip to Europe in July.

According to Samsung Electronics, Lee Jae-yong met with Zipse and other BMW executives at the BMW Driving Center in Yeongjongdo, Incheon. items such as batteries.

Before the business meeting, the two principals attended the handover ceremony of 10 new BMW i7s.

Tracing back to the cooperation between Samsung and BMW, it actually started in 2009, when the two parties first announced that they would cooperate in the development of electric vehicle batteries. In 2014, the two cemented their partnership, pledging to expand battery cell supply and overseas business, and to develop new battery materials. In 2019, Samsung SDI signed another agreement with BMW to supply electric vehicle batteries worth 4 trillion won (about 21.32 billion yuan) over the next 10 years. And now the battery giant has tripled that number, exceeding expectations.

Previously, Samsung executives said the company would not make electric vehicles under its own brand. The main reason is that Samsung does not believe its efforts in the field of finished electric vehicles will lead to sustainable profits. However, according to South Korean media BusinessKorea, Samsung has regarded automotive chips as a breakthrough to overcome the continued downturn in the memory chip market, and shared its plans to strengthen the company's automotive chip business at a recent technical forum for domestic and foreign partners and customers, including the United States. wishes.

In addition to BMW, Samsung SDI is promoting the establishment of a joint venture electric vehicle battery plant in the United States with two global automakers, General Motors and Volvo.