LG Energy Solution Lands a $7 Billion BMW Battery Order, Its First With Munich

South Korea's LG Energy Solution has secured a battery supply contract with BMW worth roughly 10 trillion won (~$7 billion), according to Chosun. It is the first major BMW supply deal for LGES.

BMW had previously sourced its EV cells primarily from China's CATL and Korea's Samsung SDI, with Northvolt as the planned European in-house alternative until that project's collapse. The LGES contract reshapes the supplier mix.

The Details

Order size: ~10 trillion won (~$7 billion)

Customer: BMW Group

Status: First major BMW supply contract for LGES

Source: Chosun report (other Korean and global outlets had not picked up the story by the time of writing, so finer details on tenor, cell chemistry, and delivery start are still pending confirmation)

Why this matters for the Korean cell makers

LGES has spent the last 24 months losing margin to CATL on the cost curve and losing share to Samsung SDI on premium European platforms. A direct BMW win, at this size, gives LGES a foothold in the German premium pipeline that pairs with its existing GM and Stellantis exposure in North America.

For BMW, the deal is strategic insurance. Northvolt's collapse left a structural hole in the European cell pipeline, and Beijing's grip on CATL's licensed-tech model in the US means BMW has limited room to scale Chinese cell sourcing inside Western trade frameworks. A Korean major partly fills both gaps.

What to watch next

If the Chosun number holds up, the deal slots LGES alongside CATL as one of the two structural winners of BMW's next-generation Neue Klasse platform, which the carmaker is using to anchor its 2026-2030 EV plan.

Korean and German trade officials have spent the spring talking about "strategic battery cooperation." This is the first contract of that size to actually land. The next data point will be confirmation from BMW's side, which had not been issued at time of writing.

Sources: Chosun