CATL installed 35.49 GWh of EV batteries in China in September, good for a 40.92% market share — but its lead over BYD narrowed for the fourth consecutive month, according to data released Thursday by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA).

CATL's installations grew about 9.1% from 32.54 GWh in August. That lagged the broader market, so its share kept sliding, down 0.52 percentage points month-on-month.

China's total EV battery installations reached 87.2 GWh in September, up 14.7% year-on-year and 10.4% month-on-month — a new high for the year for the second straight month.

How close is BYD getting?

BYD held second place with 18.29 GWh, up about 11.1% from August. Its share rose 0.11 percentage points to 21.09%. The gap between the two leaders shrank to 19.83 percentage points from 20.47 in August. Four months of narrowing, and counting.

Together, CATL and BYD covered 62.01% of the market, down from 62.43% in August. The top five — CATL, BYD, CALB, Eve Energy and Gotion High-tech — held 80.39%, slightly below August's 80.76%.

CALB retained third with 6.04 GWh and a 6.97% share, up 0.46 points. Eve Energy (5.03 GWh, 5.80%) and Gotion High-tech (4.87 GWh, 5.61%) stayed fourth and fifth. Sunwoda rose to sixth at 3.24 GWh, overtaking Rept Battero Energy at 3.17 GWh. Energee, Zenergy and Svolt Energy filled spots eight through ten.

LG Energy Solution remained eleventh, but its installations fell to 1.13 GWh from 1.60 GWh in August, leaving a 1.30% share.

What does this change for the chemistries?

Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) keeps crowding out ternary cells (batteries using nickel-cobalt cathodes). LFP installations hit 74.5 GWh, up 19.9% year-on-year, and now account for 85.5% of all installations. Ternary managed 12.3 GWh, down 10.9% year-on-year, for a 14.1% slice.

CATL leads both segments. In ternary, it installed 8.34 GWh for a 67.78% share, up 0.95 points. CALB jumped from fifth to second in ternary with 1.38 GWh and an 11.23% share, leapfrogging LG Energy Solution, which slid to third at 9.16% — a 5.32-point drop. Svolt (6.31%) and Sunwoda (3.35%) rounded out the top five.

In LFP, CATL's 27.15 GWh gave it 36.48%, while BYD took 24.58% with its entire domestic output still LFP-only. Their LFP gap narrowed to 11.90 points from 12.90 in August. Eve Energy held LFP third at 6.68%, and Gotion overtook CALB for fourth.

Nine-month picture

For the first nine months of 2026, China's cumulative installations totaled 576.3 GWh, up 16.7% year-on-year. CATL leads with 253.68 GWh and a 44.16% share, up 1.41 points from a year earlier. BYD sits second at 106.44 GWh and 18.53%, down 4.04 points year-on-year — evidence that its captive Blade battery output is growing slower than the wider market it supplies.

CALB, Gotion and Eve Energy rank third through fifth cumulatively, at 6.44%, 6.07% and 5.39% respectively. CATL also tops both segments for the nine months: 73.42% in ternary and 38.15% in LFP, with LG Energy Solution second in ternary and BYD second in LFP.

What to watch next: whether CABIA's October data extends CATL's share slide to a fifth month, and whether LG Energy Solution stabilizes in ternary after its sharp September drop.