LG Chem to invest in new car battery plant

South Korean chemical company LG Chem Ltd. said it would push through with an investment of 1 trillion won (US$750.47 million) in a new electric-car battery plant despite financial troubles facing key customer General Motors Corp. (GM). LG Chem is aiming to derive total revenues of 2 trillion won (US$1.59 billion) from its battery business in 2015, or a 20% share of the projected 10 trillion won (US$7.93 billion) global market. Earlier in the year, U.S.-based LG Chem subsidiary Compact Power Inc. secured the contract to build batteries for GM’s plug-in Volt. LG Chem reiterated that it was on track to supply lithium-ion batteries for GM’s Volt and was confident that the all-electric car would be launched in late 2010 as planned. LG Chem will also supply lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles set to be launched next month by South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor. (June 10, 2009)