[ad_1]
Toyota Motor and Panasonic are expected to launch a joint venture next year to produce batteries for electric vehicles to compete with their Chinese rivals, said a source familiar with the matter.
The joint venture, which will be 51% owned by Toyota and the rest of Panasonic, could also provide batteries to technology partners Toyota, Mazda and Subaru, the source said Sunday.
The source refused to be identified because the discussions on the joint venture are private.
A joint venture would support the agreement announced in late 2017 by the duo on the joint development of higher energy density batteries in a prismatic cell arrangement.
"Made in China 2025": the world's largest automotive market wants to become the most powerful electric car manufacturer
Toyota and Panasonic have each declared that the project to create a joint venture, announced for the first time by the Nikkei The Sunday economic paper was not what they had publicly announced.
A spokesman for Toyota said the two companies were working on the battery partnership announced in 2017. Panasonic made the same point in a statement.
As part of a joint venture, Panasonic will transfer most of its equipment and battery-related facilities in Japan and China to the joint venture, while those producing batteries for the US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla will remain under the responsibility of the company, said the source.
Panasonic already manufactures prismatic batteries for Toyota, while for Tesla, it manufactures cylindrical batteries similar to those used in laptops.
Infographics: Stones on the road to China by 2025 on electric vehicles
Both companies could announce the joint venture plan as early as this week, according to the source.
The Battery Joint Venture will help Toyota reach its annual sales target of about 1 million electric vehicles and zero emission fuel cell vehicles by 2030.
It will also give Panasonic cost and scale advantages in battery production at a time when contemporary Chinese Amperex technology has become comparable to the industry's long-time leader, with its strong growth in the domestic market. .
[ad_2]
Source link
