'K-Battery' Catches Three Rabbits: Safety, Quality, and Eco-Friendliness

[Asia Economy Reporter So-yeon Park] If we were to pick the most notable industry sector this year, it would undoubtedly be electric vehicle batteries. There are still many hurdles to overcome, such as fire cause investigations and lawsuit settlements. However, these issues do not seem likely to slow down the rapid growth of the battery business. Reviewing the New Year's messages from the heads of the three leading domestic battery companies, who boast strong competitiveness in technology and production scale in the global market, we can gauge the key focus areas for this year.

Kim Jong-hyun of LG Energy Solution: "No Compromise on Safety and Reliability"

Kim Jong-hyun, CEO of LG Energy Solution, emphasized safety as the top priority in his New Year's message.

Kim stated, "Even if we have to sacrifice quality performance, we will never compromise on safety and reliability."

He stressed, "While we have led the lithium battery market and set industry standards so far, we must ask ourselves whether our efforts have been sufficient in safety and reliability, which are becoming increasingly important as the market expands."

Kim added, "All departments will focus their attention and efforts on producing the highest quality in safety and reliability, and we will prioritize quality above all in business and all decision-making processes. We will reorganize order, production, and investment processes accordingly."

LG Energy Solution plans to significantly strengthen the capabilities of its quality center organization and grant the quality center head the highest authority to enable independent decision-making.

Kim said, "We will innovate systems and culture so that quality-related awareness from the field is conveyed to top management without distortion," and added, "I ask all employees to work together to create 'zero-defect batteries' that reassure customers and the market."

Kim also emphasized that the way to win in the fiercely competitive global eco-friendly energy market, which is growing explosively, is to provide customers with "value that customers have not thought of, that exceeds their expectations, and that is superior to competitors."

He stated, "We will deliver the best quality that exceeds customer expectations in both performance and safety for existing lithium-ion batteries," and "We will pursue more challenging attempts to lead in commercialization timing and product completeness in the innovative battery field."

Furthermore, Kim mentioned preparing to commercialize the "Battery as a Service" business, which covers the entire battery lifecycle, including battery rental and recycling, by utilizing battery data and vehicle operation data.

Kim emphasized that both quality and customer value innovation are achieved by people, saying, "We will create a company where the world's top talents want to work and grow."

Kim Jun, President of SK Innovation: "Comprehensive Change Centered on Eco-Friendliness"

Kim Jun, CEO of SK Innovation, stated, "We will transform centered on eco-friendliness and be reborn as a new SK Innovation."

In his New Year's message, Kim said, "2021 marks the bold start of a new decade for SK Innovation. We must fundamentally escape the fatal survival threats faced by petrochemical-centered companies, compounded by the direct impact of COVID-19."

Kim added, "We have set the company's direction centered on Green Energy & Materials, and this year is the first year of full-scale execution. Let us all complete ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management through comprehensive and fundamental innovation centered on eco-friendliness with strong will and determination."

Kim said, "The battery and materials businesses are at the core of eco-friendly growth and have now begun to be evaluated for growth value in the market. We must establish ourselves as the world's top companies as soon as possible through bold investments."

He continued, "For the petrochemical, chemical, and lubricant businesses facing survival issues, we must actively explore various measures domestically and internationally to achieve visible results and concretize eco-friendly business models. In particular, the chemical business should become a company that leads in solving plastic problems."

Jeon Young-hyun, President of Samsung SDI: "Battery Quality is Competitiveness"

Jeon Young-hyun, CEO of Samsung SDI, emphasized in his New Year's message, "Let us secure the highest quality and achieve zero safety issues to turn the battery market opportunities into our own."

Jeon said, "Our business is at the center of eco-friendly policies emphasized in the post-COVID era and is a future core industry expected to experience exponential growth. Only companies that prepare for and lead market changes in advance can reap the benefits."

Jeon identified challenges such as securing quality, strengthening product competitiveness through technology development, and building a dynamic organizational culture.

He stressed, "Absolute quality assurance based on safety is the essence of our industry that cannot be exchanged for anything else. Let us prioritize and act on the quality of batteries and electronic materials, which determine the performance of cutting-edge products."

Jeon said, "Developing next-generation batteries that overcome the limitations of existing batteries will be a core competitiveness to leap into a super-gap technology company. We need to actively secure next-generation advanced technologies and strengthen product competitiveness."

Finally, Jeon urged, "Let us build a dynamic organizational culture that enjoys and overcomes rapid environmental changes."

"The strength to endure the rapid changes that will blow in the post-COVID era is innovation activities that surpass that speed," he said. "Based on an organizational culture of collaboration as one team under autonomy and creativity, let us add dynamism to our thinking and working culture."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.