Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. announced Thursday it will rename itself Panasonic Corp. and end the National brand so that its products will be exclusively referred to as Panasonic.
Matsushita, which was founded in 1918 by entrepreneur Konosuke Matsushita, said Matsushita will be dropped from the company name in October.
Matsushita currently markets all of its products overseas under the Panasonic brand, but uses the National label for home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines sold on the domestic market.