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On January 10, witnessed by SAIC Group Chairman Wang Xiaoqiu, CATL Chairman and General Manager Zeng Yuqun and other leaders, SAIC Group Vice President Wei Yong and CATL Market System Co-President Han Wei signed on behalf of both parties, opening a new chapter in further deepening strategic cooperation between SAIC Group and CATL.
According to the agreement, the two parties will jointly develop power battery products suitable for SAIC Group. CATL's innovative technologies such as the Qilin battery and Shenxing battery will be prioritized for application in SAIC models, and SAIC will make CATL its preferred partner for automotive power batteries.
Jointly developing power batteries is only the "appetizer" of the two parties' deepened cooperation. Beyond the power battery field, SAIC Group and CATL will also carry out win-win cooperation in multiple areas including whole vehicles and the battery aftermarket, overseas business expansion, and vehicle-battery separation.
To put it simply, the strategic cooperation between SAIC Group and CATL is formed based on the full system chain of power batteries. Under the premise that SAIC Group becomes CATL's preferred partner for automotive power batteries, the strong alliance will also actively explore and deepen strategic cooperation in business areas such as charging pile construction, used car business, and echelon recycling and utilization of batteries.
Unexpectedly, the new strategic deepened cooperation agreement also mentions overseas markets. SAIC Group has always been a pioneer in expanding China's automotive overseas markets, while CATL is the "global representative" of Chinese power battery enterprises. Under the new deepened strategic agreement, the two parties will share their respective overseas advantageous resources, jointly build overseas after-sales service networks, and supply goods from nearby overseas production bases, so as to accelerate the pace of SAIC Group's overseas advancement in new energy.
Another notable point is that the two parties plan to cooperate in carrying out vehicle-battery separation business. SAIC Group has clearly already put battery-swapping models on its agenda, and CATL and its affiliates will provide battery sales, leasing, and battery-swapping services for SAIC Group's future new battery-swapping vehicles.
Deepening strategic cooperation with CATL is in fact also a direct manifestation of SAIC Group's further efforts in the new energy vehicle field. In 2024, SAIC Group's new energy vehicle sales reached 1.234 million units, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%, setting a record high.
Next, SAIC Group will not only continue to make efforts in new energy within its own brands including IM, Roewe Feifan, MG, Maxus, Wuling, and Baojun, but also in the joint venture field. After SAIC Volkswagen renewed its joint venture agreement, more than ten all-new models including pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have entered the development stage, and the high-end intelligent electric new vehicles developed under SAIC's cooperation with Audi will also officially debut this year.
Author: Liu Ying LY
