BMW adds Samsung SDI and LGES to Gen6 battery cell supplier lineup

Five assembly plants, two new cell suppliers, one principle: BMW Group has nominated Samsung SDI in Europe and LG Energy Solution in the US as additional cell suppliers for its Gen6 high-voltage batteries, rounding out a production network that already runs from Lower Bavaria to Shenyang.

With the additions, BMW will take European-made cells from CATL, EVE Energy and Samsung SDI, while LGES supplies cells produced inside the US. Both newly nominated manufacturers will ship from their existing regional plants, with deliveries starting in the late 2020s. That timing matters — it's an announced supply arrangement, not metal moving down a line yet.

The nominations follow BMW's "local for local" principle: source components close to where vehicles are assembled, wherever possible. The carmaker said targeted localisation across Europe, Asia and North America cuts transit distances and shores up supply security, while a globally diversified network adds flexibility and resilience.

Where will the Gen6 batteries be built?

Assembly of the Gen6 high-voltage batteries will run at five purpose-built facilities sited next to vehicle plants:

• Debrecen, Hungary
• Shenyang, China
• Woodruff, US
• San Luis Potosí, Mexico
• Irlbach-Straßkirchen, Lower Bavaria, Germany

One of the five is already live. Series production of the batteries started in Shenyang last month — the third location in the new global Gen6 network to come on stream, after Debrecen and Irlbach-Straßkirchen.

That leaves Woodruff and San Luis Potosí as the trailing edge of the rollout. Two of five plants running is a network in build-out, not a finished one.

What is BMW keeping in-house?

The supplier contracts cover cell supply, but BMW retains internal development, production and recycling capabilities at three Bavarian competence centres.

The Battery Cell Competence Centre in Munich investigates new cell technologies. The Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre in Parsdorf tests near-series cells and evaluates what BMW calls high-quality, resource-efficient production.

In Salching, German circular-economy service provider Encory will build and operate the Cell Recycling Competence Centre, recovering raw materials using BMW's direct recycling method and feeding them back into production.

Why the heavy reliance on suppliers?

BMW was blunt about the difficulty. Localising industrial value creation, it said, remains highly complex — particularly for cell production — and requires heavy investment plus supply arrangements with global technology leaders willing to set up operations locally.

There's a policy dependency too. The group said fostering regional battery ecosystems over the long term depends on feasible political regulations and attractive local conditions sustained across the industrialisation periods. Translation: cells need decade-scale commitment, from governments as well as OEMs.

Nicolai Martin, BMW board member for purchasing and supplier network management, said: "We aim to ensure our products' global competitiveness and to be successful in different markets. To achieve this, we operate as locally as possible in our value chains, leveraging the potential of our global procurement markets. Through our battery cell partnerships, we are actively strengthening value creation in Europe and the US."

What to watch next

The milestones are straightforward: first deliveries from Samsung SDI's and LGES's regional plants in the late 2020s, and start of battery assembly at Woodruff and San Luis Potosí — the two Gen6 sites still waiting in the queue behind Shenyang.