Samsung SDI to Buy GM's 49.99% Stake in Indiana Battery Venture

Samsung SDI and General Motors representatives at the 2024 US battery joint-venture signing ceremony
Official file photo from Samsung SDI and GM's 2024 US battery joint-venture signing, not the 2026 stake transaction. (Photo: Samsung SDI)

Samsung SDI is set to acquire General Motors' 49.99% interest in their Indiana battery project, ending the original joint-venture structure. The change, reported on 11 August 2026, comes as US electric-vehicle demand has grown more slowly than the companies initially expected.

From a major joint venture to a change in ownership

Samsung SDI and GM confirmed the New Carlisle, Indiana project in 2024. At the time, they outlined an investment of about US$3.5 billion, initial annual capacity of 27GWh with a possible expansion to 36GWh, and a 2027 production target. Those figures describe the original plan and should not be treated as a current post-transaction timetable.

The plant was originally intended to make NCA-based, nickel-rich prismatic batteries. Samsung SDI taking over GM's stake reflects a revision to ownership and capacity strategy; it does not establish that GM is abandoning EVs or that Samsung SDI is retreating from the United States.

North American battery investment is being recalibrated

The EV market is still developing, but the early assumption of uninterrupted high-speed capacity growth is being tested. Carmakers and battery suppliers are placing greater weight on demand visibility, cost and utilisation before committing capital.

Southeast Asia also has a reason to watch how global battery capacity is redistributed, because changes in investment timing and supply-chain priorities can influence future cell and vehicle projects across the region.

Move Auto's Take

This is less a retreat from EVs than a shift from securing capacity at any cost toward matching investment with demand, cost and utilisation. The next questions are how Samsung SDI positions the Indiana plant and how GM reshapes its wider North American battery supply.

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