Panasonic may partner with Tesla to produce lithium-ion batteries in China

Panasonic is likely to work with Tesla to start producing lithium-ion batteries
in China.
According to Reuters, Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga made the announcement
at the 2018 financial earnings conference held recently.

Panasonic may partner with Tesla to produce lithium-ion batteries in China

However, no further details
were provided on the size of the plant or the amount of investment required for the project.

Earlier this year, Panasonic began manufacturing lithium-ion batteries
for Tesla energy storage products and electric vehicles.
The two companies are also collaborating in Buffalo, New York, to produce heterojunctions
with intrinsic thin-layer solar cells.

However, Panasonic's solar business was classified as a low-margin area last year, although revenue and profit from the eco-solutions division, which includes battery storage and solar, grew
slightly.
Sales of the Eco Solutions Division increased by 4.
5% to JPY 1,623.
5 billion, and operating profit increased slightly from JPY 62.
4 billion to JPY 72.
5 billion
.

In particular, Panasonic's electrical building materials business in India, Turkey and Vietnam, water-related products in Japan, and heat exchange ventilation and electrical building materials business in China contributed to positive results
in the recent fiscal year.

As far as the solar business is concerned, Panasonic said in its financial report that in addition to traditional module sales, the company has begun to sell individual cells and has reviewed the module production structure, including liquidating module production
at the Shiga plant.
Shiga's business is expected to close at
the end of the first quarter of this year.
Earlier this year, Panasonic stopped producing silicon ingots
at a plant in Oregon.

Panasonic Group's total sales increased from 7,343.
7 billion yen to 7,982.
1 billion yen last year, and operating profit increased by 37% to 380.
5 billion yen
.

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