MPLUS to seek out European clients

Local battery equipment maker mPLUS is targeting European clients such as the joint venture between Volkswagen and Northvolt, along with French battery company Saft operating under French energy company Total.

“We plan on aggressively targeting the European battery equipment market this year,” said Kim Jong-sung, head of mPLUS at a regular shareholders’ meeting held on Mar. 23. “As soon as the coronavirus crisis is over, we plan to kick-start our marketing strategies.”

MPLUS is mostly focusing on supplying notching and stacking equipment. The Korean supplier had been preparing to enter Europe since 2019, but was forced to put its plans on hold after coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, struck.

But there is still hope for the battery-related industries, as European carmakers have been stepping up investment.

Volkswagen has said it would be investing up to 30 billion euros (around KRW 41.15 trillion) into the battery business up until 2023. Among the amount, it has already invested 9 million euros into Northvolt.

Opel of Groupe PSA will be building a battery plant with the annual production capacity of 24GWh in Germany. Battery technology will be provided by France’s Saft. Together, the two projects are worth up to 5 billion euros.

Furthermore, battery makers have also been stepping up investing into production lines. “We are in talks with companies like S-VOLT on supplying them with battery-making equipment,” said Kim. S-VOLT plans to build a battery plant in Europe, along with one in China.

This year, mPLUS is aiming for sales of KRW 150 billion, up from its revenues of KRW 104.3 billion in 2019.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.