CATL and BYD Hold 54.3% of Global EV Battery Market Through September 2026

Global EV battery installations reached 994.5 GWh in January–September 2026, up 19.7% year-on-year, and CATL alone supplied 39.1% of that volume. The figures come from South Korea's SNE Research, released Monday. They cover battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids — a wide net that matters when comparing headlines.

Who holds what share?

CATL retained first place with 389.2 GWh installed, up 24.9% year-on-year. Its share rose from 37.5% a year earlier, but slipped 0.3 percentage points from 39.4% in January–August. Growth is slowing at the margin.

BYD ranked second with 150.9 GWh, up only 7.4%. Its share fell to 15.2% from 16.9%. The gap between the two leaders' growth rates widened to 17.5 percentage points, SNE Research said, because CATL kept adding overseas automaker customers while BYD's battery supply stayed largely tied to its own vehicle sales.

The rest of the top ten:

• LG Energy Solution: 81.9 GWh, 8.2% share
• Gotion High-tech: 50.3 GWh, 5.1%
• CALB: 50.1 GWh, 5.0%
• Eve Energy: 36.0 GWh, 3.6%
• Panasonic: 35.6 GWh, 3.6%
• SK On: 28.3 GWh, 2.8%
• Svolt Energy: 25.7 GWh, 2.6%
• Rept Battero Energy: 24.2 GWh, 2.4%

Why did BYD slow down?

The slowdown came from China. BYD's EV sales in its home market fell 32.9% year-on-year, SNE Research said. Its domestic battery installations declined 7.1% to 104.9 GWh from 112.9 GWh.

The export picture flips. BYD's installations outside China rose 66.8% to 45.9 GWh from 27.5 GWh. Its overseas vehicle sales hit roughly 180,000 units in September, more than doubling year-on-year and representing nearly 40% of total sales. Note the caveat: those overseas volumes remain far smaller than the shrinking domestic base.

What happened to the Korean and Japanese suppliers?

LGES grew just 0.7% to 81.9 GWh, losing share for a second straight reading — 8.2% against 9.8% a year ago. It still supplies Tesla, GM, Hyundai Motor Group and Volkswagen. Its European installations rose 13.2% to 38.6 GWh and Asian volumes climbed 49.4% to 11.1 GWh, but North America collapsed 44.9% to 16.5 GWh from 29.9 GWh, offsetting most gains.

SK On posted the steepest top-ten decline: 28.3 GWh, down 18.1%. North American installations dropped 46.7% to 7.6 GWh from 14.2 GWh. Panasonic slipped to seventh, down 0.8% at 35.6 GWh, overtaken by Eve Energy's 60.4% surge. Panasonic's volume leaned heavily on Tesla models in North America, where supply reached 34.9 GWh.

The three Korean suppliers together held 12.6%, down 4.1 percentage points year-on-year. SK On and Panasonic were the only top-ten companies to post absolute declines in installations.

How fast did the Chinese tier climb?

The seven Chinese suppliers in the top ten held 73.0% combined, up 3.5 points from 69.5%. That figure sat slightly below January–August's 73.3%, so the climb has paused. Gotion overtook CALB by just 0.2 GWh — a margin thin enough to reverse in one quarter. Rept Battero grew 118.7% and held tenth place ahead of Sunwoda's 23.0 GWh by about 1.2 GWh.

What do the regional and chemistry numbers show?

China installed 567.8 GWh, up 16.2%. Europe grew 33.1%. Asia ex-China grew 74.1% and South America expanded 176.8% — from small bases, so treat the percentages with care. North America fell 24.3% to 85.9 GWh, the only major region in decline.

LFP chemistry reached 57.7% of installations, up from 52.5%. Average battery capacity per vehicle rose 11.2% to 39.7 kWh from 35.7 kWh, which helped installations outgrow vehicle sales. Larger packs, not just more vehicles, are driving demand.

September set a monthly record of 145.1 GWh installed, though year-on-year growth slowed to 15.8%, below the nine-month cumulative rate. The deceleration bears watching. October's data will show whether September marks a soft patch or the start of a trend, and whether BYD's export growth can offset its 32.9% domestic sales decline.