Ford, SK said to cancel Turkey battery joint venture plan

Ford and SK Innovation’s battery unit canceled plans to build an electric-vehicle battery plant in Turkey amid rising global interest rates and weaker EV demand in Europe, the Korea Economic Daily reported.

The two companies recently withdrew an initial accord that was signed in March 2022, the paper said Monday, citing unidentified sources.

The plant was slated to start operation as soon as 2025 with annual production capacity of 30 to 45 gigawatt hours and was part of a push by Ford to produce 2 million electric vehicles a year by 2026.

South Korean electric vehicle battery maker SK On said it has not decided whether to pursue the battery cell venture.

“After signing the MoU in March 2022, we have been discussing the joint venture case in Turkey, but discussions have not been completed. The final decision whether or not to halt negotiations regarding the joint venture has not been made yet,” SK On said in a statement on Monday.

Ford plans to build a new version of its Transit Custom van for the European market in Turkey in 2023 including full-electric and hybrid variants along with the combustion-engined version.

The plant was due to manufacture high-nickel NMC cells for assembly into battery array modules It was planned to be located near the Turkish capital, Ankara, and would be one of the largest EV battery facilities in Europe and Turkey.

SK On is the wholly owned battery unit of SK Innovation , and counts Hyundai Motor, Volkswagen and Ford among its customers.

SK On has battery manufacturing sites in South Korea, China, Hungary and the U.S.

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report