BERLIN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- German car manufacturer BMW has expanded its cooperation with battery cell suppliers CATL of China and Samsung of South Korea to more than 10 billion euros (11.1 billion U.S. dollars) in total, BMW announced on Thursday.
BMW plans to increase its orders from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) from four billion euros to 7.3 billion euros for the contract period until 2031, the German company said.
Battery cells worth 4.5 billion euros would be destined for the BMW Group, while the Chinese production site of the BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. joint venture (BBA) in Shenyang would receive battery cells worth 2.8 billion euros, the company said.
"We strongly supported and played an active part in establishing CATL in Germany," commented Andreas Wendt, member of BMW AG's Board of Management responsible for purchasing and supplier network.
BMW was the first customer of the CATL battery cell plant currently under construction in the German city of Erfurt, the company said.
BMW has also signed a long-term supply contract for the fifth generation of electric drives with its second supplier of battery cells, Samsung SDI Co. The contract worth 2.9 billion euros has been extended from 2021 to 2031. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollars)
