Joint battery plant plan with SK On, Ford Motor, Koc Holding falls through

A Ford F-150 Lightning pickup at the Kentucky construction site. [SARAH CHEA]

Plans to build a joint battery plant by SK On, Ford Motor and Koc Holding fell through.

The U.S. automaker and Turkish investment company are now in talks with LG Energy Solution instead.

"The non-binding and non-exclusive memorandum of understanding with Ford Motor Company and SK On has been terminated," Koc said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We are in preliminary discussions with Ford and LG Energy Solution to explore mutual investment alternatives, but no decision has been made."

The joint plan, first announced early last year, was to build a lithium-ion battery production plant in Ankara, the capital city southeast of Istanbul.

The annual capacity of 30 to 45 gigawatt-hours is equivalent to making more than 400,000 EVs per year.

The investment size was reported to be some 3 to 4 trillion won ($2.4 to $3.2 billion), though the exact amount has not been announced.

Ford has a car manufacturing plant in Turkey.

"We are still discussing with the two companies, but nothing has been decided yet," said LG Energy Solution.

SK On and Ford will still continue with their $11.4-billion joint battery plants in the United States, two in Kentucky and one in Tennessee.

When completed, the combined capacity of the three plants will be 129 gigawatt hours per year, which will be enough to supply batteries to some 1.2 million EVs. Mass production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025.

SK On batteries are used in the Ford's F-150 Lightning electric pickup.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]