Ford EV battery supplier and partner CATL is currently in a bit of hot water in the U.S., with government officials expressing concerns over the company’s alleged ties to the Chinese military. Regardless, the future BlueOval Battery Park Michigan site will use licensed lithium iron-phosphate battery (LFP) technology from CATL to build those same units when it comes online in 2026, and Ford currently utilizes batteries from that same company in some of its EVs. Meanwhile, CATL is also dealing with a global slowdown in demand for EVs along with falling raw materials prices, but that didn’t slow down its financial performance in Q1 2025.
According to Reuters, CATL has posted Q1 2025 results that show the battery maker grew its first-quarter net profit at its fastest rate in nearly two years, all while it posted an increase in revenue as well – the first time that has happened following five straight quarters of declines. Net profit grew by 32.9 percent in the first quarter of the year – to 14 billion yuan ($1.91 billion USD), while revenue was up 6.2 percent at 84.7 billion yuan ($11.6 billion USD).
This marks a big turnaround for CATL, which was previously facing its fair share of struggles amid a global slowdown in terms of demand for EVs, in general. Much of its previous losses were blamed on its need to take price reductions to account for the falling prices of raw materials, which caused a drop in operating income, even as sales grew. Regardless, CATL continues to look for ways to fund its ongoing expansion – including talking to advisors about the possibility of creating a second stock listing in Hong Kong, which could raise $5 billion.
As Ford Authority reported last month, the Ford BlueOval Battery Park Michigan is well on its way to building LFP batteries for future FoMoCo models, as the wholly owned subsidiary of Ford, BlueOval Battery Michigan LLC, recently officially took ownership of the land that it resides on.
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