KG Mobility, BYD to team up for battery pack, hybrid car

South Korea's KG Mobility Corp. has partnered with China's largest electric vehicle company BYD to build a battery pack factory in South Korea. They will also jointly develop the next-generation hybrid system.

KG Mobility announced on Thursday that it had signed an agreement to build a battery pack factory in South Korea at BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen, China.

Under this agreement, the battery packs produced in Korea will be used in KG Mobility's mid-size electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) called Torres EVX and the electric pickup truck O100, which is targeted for mass production in the second half of next year.

"With BYD, we will accelerate the development of electric vehicles, the next-generation growth driver, and strengthen the company's foundation for sustainable growth," a KG Mobility source said.

Prior to this agreement, the two companies' researchers had already begun joint development of the next-generation hybrid system. The South Korean company plans to expand its hybrid lineup starting with a hybrid model based on the Torres in 2025.

In addition, it is concurrently developing plug-in hybrids and has recently completed a restructuring of its research organization to enhance electric vehicle development capabilities and achieve success in hybrid development.

"Expanding cooperation with BYD will be an opportunity to strengthen our electric vehicle lineup, including Torres EVX, KR10, and F100, and to reorganize the company's product lineup around eco-friendly vehicles, introducing electric vehicle-exclusive platforms and launching hybrid models," KG Mobility Chairman Kwak Jae-Sun said. 

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com