Shin Jung-ho, CEO of SK Signet Inc. is seen speaking to reporters at a session on the sidelines of CES 2023 in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, 2022 in this photo provided by SK Signet.
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – SK Signet Inc., the producer of electric vehicle (EV) chargers under South Korea’s SK Group, said Friday it aims to double the annual sales this year from last year on the back of robust overseas demand and market expansion in the United States.
Shin Jung-ho, CEO of SK Signet, made the remarks at CES 2023 taking place in Las Vegas this week, casting a rosy outlook particularly for overseas markets like the U.S. and Europe, citing burgeoning EV demand and various government subsidy programs for EV related products.
“The U.S. has the NEVI subsidy program and Europe has similar EV support initiatives. We expect 2023 will be the first year that we see a rapid growth in the U.S. market in earnest,” Shin said during a meeting with reporters on the sidelines of the U.S. tech show.
NEVI, or the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, calls for giving subsidies to EV charger manufacturers whose products are locally produced in the U.S.
SK Signet is targeting 320 billion won (US$252 million) in sales for this year, from 160 billion won generated last year. Sales in 2022 also grew twofold from 80 billion won the year before.
This rendered image, provided by SK Signet, shows the company’s V2 ultra-fast EV charger.
SK Signet said November that it will build its first EV charger manufacturing plant in Texas, with the aim to start pilot operations in the first quarter of this year. When completed, it will annually produce more than 10,000 ultra-fast EV chargers.
Shin said the company is also considering expanding the production line to increase the production capacity to 20,000 units per year.
“I met many clients and power bloggers at CES today. The first question they asked me was when the delivery can be made,” he said. “They’re practically making pre-orders before negotiating the price.”
SK Signet, currently No. 1 in the U.S. market with over 50 percent of market share, is making further inroads into Europe, where EV demand is strong. It set up an office in Frankfurt in 2022 and bagged new orders in Britain.
At this year’s CES, SK Signet presented V2, its ultra-fast charger, designed to travel up to 400 kilometers on a single charge. It can charge an EV from 20 percent to 80 percent in 18 minutes.
(Yonhap)
