The South Korean battery maker that partnered with Ford to form BlueOval SK was SK On.
BlueOval SK was created as a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and SK On, whose parent group grew out of SK Innovation’s battery business. The partnership was designed to manufacture battery cells and packs for Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles in the United States.
Ford and SK Innovation announced the battery partnership in 2021, before SK Innovation separated its battery operations into the standalone company SK On. Planned facilities included a battery park in Tennessee and two plants in Kentucky, representing one of Ford’s largest manufacturing investments at the time.
The arrangement is easy to confuse with Ford’s other battery relationships, including partnerships involving LG Energy Solution and CATL technology. Samsung SDI and Panasonic are also major battery suppliers, but neither formed BlueOval SK with Ford. BlueOval SK was a historical joint venture; later corporate changes altered the structure, but they do not change the answer to this question.