Panasonic says EV market slowdown in U.S. worse than expected
Japan's Panasonic Holdings said on Friday that its EV battery arm will likely miss its initial profitability target due to a worse-than-expected slowdown in the North American market for electric vehicles.
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TOKYO — Japan’s Panasonic Holdings said on Friday that its EV battery arm will likely miss its initial profitability target due to a worse-than-expected slowdown in the North American market for electric vehicles.
“There was an unexpected steep decline in demand for the product that we make in Japan and ship to our strategic partner,” President and CEO Yuki Kusumi said, using a phrase widely understood to refer to Panasonic’s biggest customer for EV batteries, American EV maker Tesla.
The product in question is likely the company’s older-generation 1865 batteries, which it makes in Japan and ships to the U.S.
The 1865 has been used in Tesla’s Model X and Model S, which analysts believe are facing sluggish sales due to their relatively higher prices and the overall slowdown in the EV market. Panasonic has already announced that it is slashing production of these batteries in Japan.
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