Stellantis, Samsung SDI announce joint venture to invest over $2.5 billion in new EV battery manufacturing facility in Indiana

Investment to bring 1,400 new jobs to Kokomo, demonstrates Indiana’s leadership in battery technology

Stellantis N.V. and Samsung SDI today announced that they have executed binding, definitive agreements to establish an electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo.

The joint venture company will invest over $2.5 billion and create 1,400 new jobs in Kokomo and the surrounding areas. The investment could gradually increase up to $3.1 billion.

The new facility will supply battery modules for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis’ North American assembly plants. Plant construction activities are scheduled to begin later this year with production operations planned to launch in the first quarter of 2025.

“Just under one year ago, we committed to an aggressive electrification strategy anchored by five gigafactories between Europe and North America,” said Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis.

“Today’s announcement further solidifies our global battery production footprint and demonstrates Stellantis’ drive toward a decarbonized future outlined in Dare Forward 2030. I am grateful to Governor Holcomb and Secretary Chambers along with Mayor Moore, and their teams as well as to all my colleagues for their support and dedication to bring this operation to Kokomo, a city that holds a rich and long history for our company.”

At the Indiana factory, Samsung SDI will be applying its cutting-edge technology PRiMX to producing EV battery cells and modules for the North American market. Samsung has launched its premium battery technology brand PRiMX as an industry’s first last year and unveiled the brand at CES 2022 in January.

As part of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis announced plans to have global annual battery electric vehicle sales of five million vehicles by 2030, reaching 100% of passenger car BEV sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger car and light-duty truck BEV sales mix in North America. Stellantis also increased planned battery capacity by 140 GWh to approximately 400 GWh, to be supported by five battery manufacturing plants together with additional supply contracts. This announcement is part of the long-term electrification strategy to invest $35 billion through 2025 in electrification and software globally.
The closing is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

INDIANA GOV. ERIC HOLCOMB:

“It’s another incredibly exciting day to be back in Kokomo celebrating such a transformational investment from Stellantis and our new partners at Samsung. Today’s announcement is another step toward positioning Indiana as a leader in the future of mobility, battery technology and clean energy.”

BRAD CHAMBERS, secretary of commerce for Indiana Economic Development Corp:

“Our goals for the growth of Indiana’s economy are ambitious. This significant venture with Stellantis and Samsung SDI is squarely in line with our 5E focus on the energy transition and building an economy of the future. Large-scale investments like this are a testament to Indiana’s business-friendly climate, its strong workforce, a growing population and our continued investment in quality of life. The economic growth and momentum in our state this year is unprecedented.”

KOKOMO MAYOR TYLER MOORE:

“We would like to thank our partner, Stellantis, for its continued investment, support, and faith in this community for over 85 years. We would also like to thank Samsung SDI for its confidence in us and look forward to working together for the decades to come. This multi-billion dollar investment will help solidify Kokomo as a global leader in automotive manufacturing.”

Project to encompass entirety of land designated for industrial park

The $2.5 billion development announcement Tuesday by Stellantis and Samsung SDI brings to fruition a plan put in motion years ago by the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance.

Having long advocated for the need for an industrial park in Howard County, Alliance President and CEO Charlie Sparks was able to begin work in earnest on such a development in 2019.

“We pursued property acquisition because we needed available, market-ready land to position the community to compete for economic development opportunities,” Sparks said.

To that end, the Alliance partnered with the City of Kokomo and Howard County to purchase 142 acres of land adjacent to Indiana 931 (just south of East 300 North and the Kokomo Engine Plant) in 2021. For perspective, the property could house more than 100 football fields.

The acquisition put the community in a solid position to compete for the Stellantis/Samsung SDI development as a portion of the required property was immediately available.

“We didn’t expect results this quickly or at this scale,” Sparks said. Rather, he said, developments were expected to grow gradually. “We thought we’d see incremental development over a period of years.”

Attracting such a significant development so quickly was a welcome outcome. And it’s one that will further Kokomo’s position as a global leader in the automotive industry.

“The significance of today’s announcement will be felt in this community for decades,” Sparks said. “We appreciate the strong relationship we have developed with Stellantis and look forward to building the same type of partnership with Samsung SDI.”

Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman lauded the efforts of the Alliance and local elected officials that led to such a successful outcome.

“The industrial park is a great example of what can be accomplished when the county, the city and the business community, through the Alliance, partner together to move our community forward,” Wyman said. “We must continue to grow public/private partnerships to ensure our community is always positioned to attract these types of investments.”