According to media reports on Sunday, SK On, the fourth largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer in the world and a South Korean battery giant, said that due to weak sales of electric vehicles in Europe and the United States, its customers are struggling and the company is in crisis. The report cited a letter to employees from CEO Lee Seok-hee, who plans to cut costs as part of the company's "emergency management". As part of the cost-cutting measures, SK On will freeze the annual salaries of all executive-level employees until the company returns to profitability.

SK On and Ford Motor (F.US) have established a joint venture called BlueOval SK to produce batteries for Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. According to the BlueOval SK website, the company will open battery factories in Glendale, Kentucky and Stanton, Tennessee from next year.

According to the SK On financial report, the company reported a loss of KRW 581.8 billion (approximately USD 0.4227 billion) last year; the first quarter of this year continued to report a loss, with a loss of KRW 331.5 billion. The company claims to hope to achieve profitability in the third or fourth quarter of this year and achieve a break-even point in the second half of the year.

SK On's subsidiary SK Innovation's website shows that SK On also employs about 2,600 employees in two electric vehicle battery factories in Commerce, Georgia.