LG Chem Plans To Separate Battery Business As Electric Cars Take Off

LG Chem, South Korea’s top petrochemicals maker, has long bet on car batteries as a new growth engine, but it has never made an annual profit in the business since it started making them about a decade ago.

But expectations are growing for its car battery business as automakers push for more electric vehicles, fuelled by Tesla’s rise and tougher emissions regulations in Europe.

LG Chem said the timing was right to separate the business, which competes with China’s CATL and Japan’s Panasonic, as it has started to make “structural profits” in its car battery business.

LG Chem said the new business, to be launched in December, aims to achieve a revenue of 30 trillion won ($25.5 billion) or more in 2024, from an expected revenue of 13 trillion won this year.