Global EV battery market share Jan-Aug 2026: CATL leads at 39.4%, BYD 15.1%; Chinese firms hold 73.3%

• The 7 Chinese companies in the top 10 held a combined 73.3% share of the global EV battery market.
• CATL and BYD held a combined 54.6% share, while Rept remained in the top 10 with the fastest growth among the group.

CATL (HKEX: 3750) and BYD (HKEX: 1211) continued to dominate the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market in the first 8 months of 2026, retaining a combined share of more than half.

Global EV battery usage totaled 844.2 GWh from January through August, up 19.7% year-on-year, according to data released by South Korean market research firm SNE Research on Friday.

Battery installations in August alone totaled 116.8 GWh, up 14.3% year-on-year. The figures cover battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids.

CATL retained first place with 333.0 GWh of global battery installations from January through August, up 25.2% year-on-year and outpacing the overall market.

Its global share rose to 39.4% from 37.7% a year earlier, but fell 0.5 percentage points from 39.9% in January through July.

BYD ranked second with 127.9 GWh of battery installations, up 6.2% year-on-year. Its share fell to 15.1% from 17.1% a year earlier, but exceeded the 14.7% recorded in January through July.

Their combined market share was 54.6%, unchanged from January through July and slightly below 54.8% a year earlier, but still more than half of the global market.

South Korea's LG Energy Solution (LGES) ranked third with 68.3 GWh, up 0.9% year-on-year, while its share fell to 8.1% from 9.6% a year earlier.

LGES continued supplying Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), GM, Hyundai Motor Group and Volkswagen, but its growth lagged well behind the overall market, SNE Research said.

Its battery installations in North America fell 42.3% year-on-year to 14.6 GWh, offsetting gains in Europe and Asia.

China's CALB (HKEX: 3931) ranked fourth with 44.4 GWh, up 32.6% year-on-year, while its share rose to 5.3% from 4.7% a year earlier.

China's Gotion High-tech (SZSE: 002074) ranked fifth with 41.5 GWh, up 47.1% year-on-year, while its share rose to 4.9% from 4.0% a year earlier.

Japan's Panasonic ranked sixth with 29.7 GWh, up 1.8% year-on-year. Tesla's North American sales supported its battery installations, but its share still fell to 3.5% from 4.1%.

China's Eve Energy (SZSE: 300014) ranked seventh with 29.5 GWh, up 53.9% year-on-year, while its share rose to 3.5% from 2.7% a year earlier.

South Korea's SK On remained the only company in the top 10 to record a decline in battery installations, down 14.5% year-on-year to 24.9 GWh, while its share shrank to 2.9% from 4.1%.

China's Svolt Energy ranked ninth with 22.0 GWh, up 39.3% year-on-year, while its share rose to 2.6% from 2.2% a year earlier.

China's Rept Battero Energy (HKEX: 666) saw battery installations surge 126.3% to 20.3 GWh, retaining tenth place, while its share rose to 2.4% from 1.3%.

The 7 Chinese companies in the top 10 held a combined 73.3% share, up 3.6 percentage points from 69.7% a year earlier and above the 72.8% recorded in January through July.

Battery installations grew 29.2% year-on-year in Europe, 16.9% in China, 76.0% in Asia excluding China and 179.9% in South America.

North America recorded a 23.7% year-on-year decline to 73.1 GWh. SNE Research said the shortfall in US EV demand persisted, with battery manufacturers shifting some EV battery production lines to energy storage systems (ESS).