19 January 2017, India:
Panasonic has expressed to strengthen the partnership with Tesla beyond the battery manufacturing deal the two currently have together Reuters reported.
“We are deeply interested in Tesla’s self-driving system,” Chief Executive Officer Kazuhiro Tsuga said in an interview on Thursday. “We are hoping to expand our collaboration by jointly developing devices for that, such as sensors.”
Panasonic currently works with Tesla on lithium-ion battery research and production through a Nevada-based complex called the Gigafactory, first announced in 2014. Reports suggest a second factory, intended for European soil, may be in the works.
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Panasonic aims to add such technology to an automotive business that also includes cockpit displays and navigation systems. It targets annual sales of 2 trillion yen ($17.43 billion) for that business in the year through March 2019, from 1.3 trillion yen in the year ended March 2016 as per the Reuters’ report.
Another possible area of collaboration would be in heads-up display considering the growing speculation of Tesla’s vehicle lineup soon being equipped with the technology, especially the Model 3 due to the lack of instrument cluster in the early prototypes electrek reported.
Founded in 1918, Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. (Image- Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty)