Panasonic plans to invest in Chinese production of lithium batteries for vehicles

According to a report by the Ministry of Commerce on the website of the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun," Matsushita plans to invest tens of billions of yen in the production of lithium batteries for vehicles used in the core components of hybrid vehicles (HVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) in China. This will be the first project for overseas production of similar products of the company.

Panasonic's lithium battery accounts for more than 20% of the global market share and competes fiercely with Korean Samsung Group. In the field of lithium batteries for vehicles, it is currently the top supplier to Toyota and other large car companies. Vehicle-mounted lithium batteries have higher requirements in terms of capacity, durability, etc. than lithium batteries for computers and mobile phones. They are high-end technical products and have been produced only in Japan before. As major customers such as Germany Volkswagen and Toyota announced that they will produce HVs and EVs in China, Matsushita believes it is necessary to establish a supply system in China.

In the future, Panasonic will, in accordance with relevant Chinese regulations, determine specific locations for the establishment of the plant during the year, and plans to start production in 2014. Earlier, Matsushita invested 45 billion yen in Malaysia and invested 55 billion yen in Suzhou, China to build a lithium battery production plant for solar cells and computers. The new project is the third step of Panasonic's expansion of the battery business.