Toyota and Panasonic to make electric-vehicle battery packs in 2020, compete with Chinese producers
- Toyota will take 51 per cent of the venture, while Panasonic will hold the remaining stake, a source say
Toyota Motor and Panasonic are set to launch a joint venture next year to produce batteries for electric vehicles (EV) in an effort to compete with Chinese rivals, a source familiar with the matter said.
The joint venture, to be owned 51 per cent by Toyota and the rest by Panasonic, could also provide batteries to Toyota’s EV technology partners Mazda and Subaru, the source said on Sunday.
The source declined to be identified because the talks on the joint venture are private.
A joint venture would build on the agreement that the pair announced in late 2017 on joint development of batteries with higher energy density in a prismatic cell arrangement.
Toyota and Panasonic each said the plan to set up a joint venture, first reported by the Nikkei business daily on Sunday, was not what they have publicly announced.