◀ Anchor ▶
An explosively growing market with electric vehicles, it is an electric vehicle battery.
LG and SK, domestic companies, went to the US to file a lawsuit over the infringement of trade secrets.
It is said that only the litigation costs incurred by the two companies are hundreds of billions of won.
Reporter Lee Joon-hee covered it.
◀ Report ▶
April 2019.
LG Chem submitted SK Innovation to the US International Trade Commission and ITC.
This was the reason that SK infringed on trade secrets by taking LG employees to their own company.
Today, two years after the lawsuit, LG won.
ITC has banned SK’s battery-related products from importing to the US for the next 10 years.
SK is investing about 3 trillion won to build two battery factories in Georgia, USA.
Most of the parts are procured from Korea, so according to this ruling, production in the United States will not be possible.
But it’s not over yet.
ITC suspended the import ban for two and four years, respectively, for Volkswagen and Ford, which had a supply contract with SK.
To protect Volkswagen and Ford’s US factories.
The litigation costs that LG and SK have spent over the past two years alone amount to hundreds of billions of won.
Unusually, even the prime minister went ahead and stopped it.
[정세균/국무총리 (1월 28일)]
“Isn’t it a little embarrassing? If the two companies fight, only others do good things…”
The war between the two companies shows the explosive growth of the electric vehicle battery market.
The estimated global electric vehicle battery market size in 2025 is 98 trillion won, 6 times that of 2020.
[이지연/신영증권 연구위원]
“Batteries account for almost 30% to 40% of the cost of electric vehicles. Because they are replacing the internal combustion engine…”
There is also the possibility of an agreement between the two companies.
But the amount of settlement is a problem.
[임수길/SK이노베이션 부사장]
“One of SK Innovation’s consistent principles was early termination through amicable agreement.”
[한웅재/LG에너지솔루션 전무]
“We think it’s basically entirely up to our competitors’ attitudes.”
The world market share of the three domestic companies is 34.3%.
However, the pursuit of Chinese companies that backed up with Chinese government subsidies is reluctant.
This is Junhee Lee at MBC News.
(Video coverage: Hyangjin Lee and Heonju Go / Editing video: Somin Jung)
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