SK Innovation shares plunge after Ford halts production of F-150 Lightning trucks

Ford F-150 Lightning truck at the Kentucky EV construction site. [SARAH CHEA]

SK Innovation shares dropped nearly 8 percent Wednesday after Ford announced a halt of the production of its F-150 Lightening pickup trucks over a possible battery issue.

The Michigan-based company said in a statement that it found "a vehicle displayed a potential battery issue during its pre-delivery quality inspections" and is "holding vehicles" while investigating the issue.

The electric truck is equipped with NCM9 — nickel, cobalt and manganese — batteries made by SK On, a fully-owned subsidiary of SK Innovation. NCM9 batteries hit the 90-percent nickel content level that allows for higher energy density and improved storage capacity.

SK On did not specify details, adding that it is in the process of investigating the matter.

The already shipped cars will remain on sale. First introduced in April last year, more than 200,000 F-150 Lightning orders are on a waitlist.

The halt came two days after the Michigan-based automaker announced a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan using lithium-iron-phosphate, or LFP, battery technology and technical expertise from Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the Chinese company that has the largest share in the market.

Ford and SK's plan of building a joint battery plant in Turkey fell through recently. The automaker is now in talks with LG Energy Solution.

SK Innovation closed at 155,000 won ($121) Wednesday, down 7.5 percent from the previous day. Its shares fell by as much as 8.3 percent during intraday trading to 153,600 won.

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