Ford gives SK On's largest Hungarian battery plant its top supplier-quality award

At 30 GWh a year, Ivancsa is about 1.7 times the size of the two Komarom plants combined, which total 17.5 GWh ^[7][12][16]. It took about eleven quarters to build ^[4][13]. Ford's assessors arrived roughly six quarters after it started commercial operation ^[5][14]. According to SK On, the plant spent the time since start-up stabilizing operations and strengthening quality controls ^[10]. Q1 grades exactly that work. Ford scores production technology, product quality, improvement efforts, and manufacturing and quality management systems ^[3].

Q1 is a certification for supplier facilities ^[1], so Ivancsa is already in Ford's supply base. Seoul Economic Daily described the award as Ford recognizing the plant as an outstanding supplier of parts and raw materials ^[9]. The rating can be read two ways. The narrow reading is retention: a top grade makes it harder for Ford to move business already placed at Ivancsa elsewhere on quality grounds. The wider reading, and the only one that adds volume, is that SK On's European capacity can now win new Ford work.

I think the evidence supports the narrow reading. SK On did not disclose what share of Ivancsa's output Ford takes, how much of the 30 GWh is running, or any new Ford order tied to the award. The counter-thesis is that an automaker gives its highest supplier grade to the largest of SK On's three Hungarian plants ^[17] because it expects to put more cells there. The months Ford spent on the assessment ^[5] fit that story. I would be wrong if Ford's volume at Ivancsa rises in the quarters after the award.

Kim Seong-sik, head of SK On Europe, talked about the customers SK On already has. "We will continue strengthening the manufacturing and quality competitiveness of our Hungary plant through continuous improvement and proactive quality management to live up to our customers' trust," he said ^[11].