CATL Offering Steep Discounts to Automakers in Quid Pro Quo Deal, Source Says

The discount offer is a tactic by CATL to better compete with its smaller rivals, which are ramping up efforts to encroach on its turf. Photo: VCG

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), the world’s largest electric-vehicle (EV) battery-maker, is in talks to offer automakers steeply discounted prices in exchange for sourcing the vast bulk of their power cells from the company in a bid to stave off growing competition from smaller rivals, Caixin has learned.

If the plan goes ahead, CATL will sell the strategic clients EV batteries made from self-manufactured lithium carbonate at a low price. In return, they will be required to sign a contract committing them to buy 80% of their EV batteries from CATL over the next three years, a person close to the company told Caixin on Sunday.