Panasonic Corp. is in talks with automotive parts makers for possible acquisitions or alliances as Japan's No. 2 TV maker seeks to expand the components it delivers to vehicle manufacturers.
The supplier of lithium-ion batteries for Toyota Motor Corp. and Tesla Motors Inc. is interested in companies that make front and rear car components and have a strong safety record, Yoshihiko Yamada, head of Panasonic's automotive and industrial systems unit, said Monday.
Panasonic plans to double revenue to ¥2 trillion from automobile-related products such as drive-control systems by March 2019, as part of President Kazuhiro Tsuga's plan to cut reliance on televisions and other consumer electronics. The company, which has announced six deals this year worth around ¥47 billion, will seek partnerships or deals to accelerate growth in technologies such as automatic parking, Yamada said.
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