(Yicai) April 9 -- South Korea’s LG New Energy was the world’s second-largest battery supplier in terms of batteries installed in autos in January and February, overtaking China’s BYD which tumbled to third place, partly due to sinking sales of its electric vehicles over the eight-day Lunar New Year holiday, according to a new report.

BYD’s installed capacity slumped 3.1 percent in the first two months from a year earlier to 12.1 gigawatt hours, according to South Korean market research firm SNE Research. And its market share contracted 4 percentage points to 13.1 percent. EV sales were affected by the eight-day public holiday in February, whilst South Korea’s Lunar New Year break only lasts four days this year.

BYD’s new energy vehicles are sold at a competitive price as the firm makes its own batteries and has achieved vertical integration in auto manufacturing, according to the report. The Shenzhen-based company recently opened a factory in Thailand which will help expand its global footprint.

Six of the top 10 EV battery makers were Chinese, accounting for 60.8 percent market share, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the same period last year, the report said.

Contemporary Amperex Technology’s installed capacity surged 44.9 percent over the period to 35.5 GWh. The Ningde-based firm, which supplies not only Chinese EV giants such as Zeekr and Li Auto but also foreign carmakers such as Tesla, BMW and Volkswagen, was the only battery supplier with a global market share of more than 30 percent. Its market share widened 4.8 percentage points to 38.4 percent.

CALB Group, Gotion High-Tech, EVE Energy and Svolt Energy Technology were also in the top 10 and all logged growth in installed capacity. Changzhou-based Svolt posted the fastest growth at 184.3 percent.

Svolt shipped more than 15,000 vehicles to overseas customers in the first quarter, accounting for nearly 20 percent of auto exports, Chairman Yang Hongxin said recently.

Editor: Kim Taylor