Why Vines is confident in competing with Chinese batteries.

Báo Hà Giang•17/05/2023

18:01, 16/05/2023

Although Chinese batteries are leaving the South Korean and Japanese battery industries in the dust, VinES is not worried because, according to Ms. Pham Thuy Linh, General Director of VinES, they still have certain competitive advantages.

As mentioned in the previous article, Ms. Pham Thuy Linh - CEO of VinES battery company - frankly admitted that the company cannot compete on price with its Chinese competitors at the moment, but is confident that it still has many competitive advantages.

Over the past decade or so, thanks to government support and the booming trend of green vehicles domestically (the growth rate of electric vehicles in China over the past decade has been much faster than in Japan, Europe, or North America), Chinese battery companies have experienced strong growth in both production volume and technological development. Even for automakers like Tesla, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and BMW, equipping their vehicles sold in this market with batteries from China gives them a significant competitive advantage.

CATL, having capitalized on this advantage, experienced phenomenal growth, surpassing LG Chem, Panasonic, SK-On, and Samsung SDI to lead the battery supply chain for six consecutive years. The boom in the domestic electric vehicle market also propelled BYD to third place globally in battery market share, even overtaking LG Chem to claim second place in the electric vehicle battery sector. Furthermore, six out of the ten largest battery companies in the world last year were from China; previously, that advantage belonged to South Korea, followed by Japan.

China's battery market share is projected to decline in the future, but it will still play a dominant role in the market.

With advantages in production volume, technology, pricing, and a massive market, Chinese battery companies are dominating the decision-making process for battery suppliers among major global automakers. They are truly a "ghost" looming over the South Korean and Japanese battery industries. While many forecasts predict a resurgence in growth for battery companies from South Korea, Japan, and even Europe and the US in the electric vehicle era, one thing remains certain: Chinese battery manufacturers, even if they cannot maintain their current market share, will continue to be a major force dominating the global battery market.

In this picture, VinES may currently be just a small dot, but according to Ms. Pham Thuy Linh, the market demand for batteries is enormous, potentially six times greater by 2030. "China alone cannot control the entire market, while many countries, especially North America and Europe, are taking steps to restrict battery imports from China by diversifying their supply sources. Therefore, opportunities arise for many, including VinES. This is also why VinES, despite being a new company facing many difficulties and challenges, such as the initial stages of engaging with foreign partners, still has the opportunity to showcase its products and services."

According to the CEO of VinES battery company, compared to China, Vietnam also has an advantage as export tariffs on batteries to markets like North America are about 2.5 times cheaper. It is a friendly trading partner with Europe and many countries around the world. Furthermore, VinES is currently the only company in Southeast Asia that is proactive in technology, research, production, and packaging of battery cells. This is an extremely important advantage, especially since import tariffs in the region are zero.

Besides China, Japan, South Korea, North America, and Europe, the market is expected to receive significant contributions from "foreign" companies like VinES.

Of course, VinES doesn't just rely on objective advantages. Ms. Pham Thuy Linh stated that the company understands that to compete effectively in the long term, it must leverage its core technology. Besides accelerating progress by collaborating with partners from Israel, the US, the UK, Europe, and South Korea (often using derivative technologies), VinES also proactively assembles a research and development team that brings together the best in both domestic and international fields to develop core technologies and diversify its products and applications across various sectors.

Although VinES representatives declined to disclose the amount invested in research, they stated that it is part of a closed value chain aimed at proactively developing technology and production to serve their long-term vision. In this process, the company has been sourcing valuable raw materials from various countries since its inception to support this goal.

According to Thanh Nien newspaper.

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