Chinese lithium-ion manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) is opening its first North American sales and service facility, in Detroit, Michigan, as the company looks to stake its claim on the US battery market.
CATL has established “a series of partnership agreements with world-renowned car manufacturers” such as BMW, Daimler, and Jaguar Land Rover.
The Detroit facility will help CATL to “improve the supply of lithium-ion batteries to the US auto market and to support the expansion of EV manufacturing.”
This news follows CATL’s opening of a Japanese sales office in Yokohama City, which took place in May of this year.
Subsequently, in July 2018, CATL announced plans to build a battery manufacturing facility in the east German city of Erfurt, in order to assist them in supplying €4 billion (US$4.53 billion) worth of batteries to BMW.
“By locating close to our customers, we will be able to better understand their needs and improve our global supply chain”, commented Allan Wang, GM of CATL North America. “We look forward to providing more tailored customer service to our US-based partners and are continuously looking for new partnerships and opportunities in the local market”.