General Motors (GM) chair and CEO Mary Barra headed a company delegation travelling to South Korea this week to meet with a number of local manufacturers to discuss component supply deals for future battery electric vehicles (BEVs), according to local reports.

During their stay in Seoul, the top management met with the CEOs of a number of Samsung companies, including Choi Yoon-ho, CEO of battery manufacturer Samsung SDI; Choi Joo-sun, CEO of Samsung Display; and Chang Duck-hyun, head of Samsung Electro-Mechanics. This was Barra’s first visit to South Korea since she became GM chair in 2016.

GM and Samsung SDI discussed their joint venture which is currently building a BEV battery plant in Indiana and scheduled to become operational in 2026 with an annual production annual capacity of 30 gigawatts (GWh) per year.

GM also held talks with Samsung Display Company with a view to sourcing displays and camera modules, according to the reports.

The automaker also met with the CEO of LG Electronics, Cho Joo-wan, and with LG Energy Solution, with which it has a BEV battery manufacturing joint venture in the US called Ultium Cells.

GM also just signed a US$19bn contract with LG Chem to source 500,0000 tons of cathode materials between 2026 and 2035 for its electric vehicle batteries.