Toyota has agreed to shift a $1.5 billion order with LG Energy Solution to bolster operations at a Michigan battery plant after General Motors backed out of the project, according to people familiar with the matter.
GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers. Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order from another LG plant in Michigan when LG fully acquires the Lansing facility, which is expected to happen this spring, the Japanese automaker confirmed. That purchase order totals $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the deal, who weren’t authorized to comment publicly.
South Korean companies sank $54 billion into building electric vehicle (EV) battery plants in the United States in anticipation of an EV boom subsidized by the Inflation Reduction Act, then-U.S. President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill. Now LG, the world’s third-biggest EV battery manufacturer, is slashing spending as automakers dial back EV plans and the White House threatens to roll back policies supporting electric cars. Congressional Republicans have vowed to cut funding for the law during upcoming budget negotiations.
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