Samsung SDI Acquires Stake from GM, Ending EV Battery Joint Venture

Samsung SDI announced it will acquire General Motors' entire 49.99% stake in SynergyCells, their jointly owned EV battery plant in New Carlisle, Indiana, ending the roughly two-year-old joint venture and giving Samsung SDI its first wholly owned battery production base in North America.

The move follows a broader pullback in EV investment by GM amid slowing North American demand, a retreat that accelerated after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired last September. The $3.5 billion, 27-gigawatt-hour plant had already paused construction earlier this year before this ownership change.

Despite dissolving the equity joint venture, Samsung SDI and GM signed a separate joint development agreement to continue collaborating on next-generation prismatic EV batteries, preserving the technology partnership even as the ownership structure changes.

With Samsung SDI now the sole owner, analysts will be watching whether construction at the New Carlisle site resumes and accelerates, and how GM's exit affects its broader in-house battery sourcing strategy as it navigates the EV demand slowdown.