CATL's 'price war' shows its power, and China's EV edge

[superadmin]

SHANGHAI/LONDON (Feb 27): CATL, the world's largest battery maker, has offered to cut costs for Chinese automakers, a move that demonstrates its market power and could also widen China's cost advantage in electric vehicles.

China's CATL has offered smaller domestic electric-vehicle makers discounted prices on batteries, according to four people with knowledge of the terms.

The discount offers included a clause that shocked the auto industry after a year of rising prices: a built-in assumption that prices of lithium carbonate, a key component in auto batteries, would more than halve, three of the people said. The move shows CATL's cost advantage from its investments in lithium mining and refining, and its determination to knock back the challenge from smaller Chinese rivals such as CALB and EVE Energy which have factories ramping up this year, analysts said.

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