1. Home
2. Supplier Database
3. Major Suppliers
4. Panasonic Corporation
5. Panasonic Corporation Business Report FY ended Mar. 2018

Panasonic Corporation Business Report FY ended Mar. 2018

-At the annual press conference held in July 2018, the Company announced that by FY2021 it plans to increase sales of automotive batteries sold by its energy business, to 2.5 times the amount sold in FY2017. In FY 2021, it aims to increase total sales at the automotive and industrial systems business by 47.1%, or to JPY 2.5 trillion.

Contracts

-In May 2018, Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America announced that its all-new ELS STUDIO 3D premium audio system will be available in the 2019 Acura RDX. The ELS Studio 3D premium audio system will launch in the 2019 Acura RDX in mid-2018.

-In June 2017, the Company announces that the Fender Premium Audio System, a system created by a close collaboration between Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, will be a featured option in the all-new 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV.

Acquisitions

-In July 2017, the Company announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of additional shares in Ficosa International after the satisfaction of all conditions to the closing of the transaction as of July 4. The Company has acquired an additional 20% of Ficosa’s issued shares held by Ficosa Inversion. Combined with the shares the Company already holds, the Company now owns 69% of the issued shares of Ficosa, making it a consolidated subsidiary. With this transaction, the Company positions Ficosa as one of its business divisions. The Company and Ficosa are combining their respective technologies to jointly develop products such as electronic mirror systems, next-generation cockpit systems and ADAS, which will facilitate business expansion in the fields where future growth is anticipated.

Business Partnership

-In June 2018, Parrot Faurecia Automotive announced its new partnership with OpenSynergy. Parrot new infotainment system (NIS) 8X00 will be equipped with OpenSynergy’s COQOS Hypervisor SDK to become a fully scalable platform. The NIS 8X00 can simultaneously run several operating systems on a single SoC (System-on-Chip) – effectively and safely separating Android from safety functions such as displaying tell-tales on the instrument cluster display.

-In April 2018, the Company announced that it will form a business and capital alliance with Azapa Co. Ltd., which engages in development support using model based development (MBD) virtual simulations. Both companies will expand the areas of their cooperation to include cockpit and advanced driving assistance system fields in addition to electric powertrain development for compact electric vehicles using MBD techniques.

-In February 2018, the Company and Cinemo have announced a further extension of their cooperation on latest infotainment systems. Cinemo will work closely with the Company on their Android based infotainment system to address the increasing technological demands of a scalable and connected ecosystem for the car.

-In February 2018, the Company announced that it has reached an agreement with Trend Micro Incorporated (Trend Micro) to jointly develop cyber security solution for detecting and preventing cyber-attacks against autonomous and connected cars, which are expected to be put into widespread use. They will work together to put this service into practical use after 2020.

Recent Development in Japan

-In October 2017, the Company announced that its subsidiary, Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd., will start production of automotive square lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) at its Himeji Plant. Electrification of vehicles is accelerating as environmental regulations are getting more stringent worldwide. Panasonic group will enhance its capacity to respond to increasing demand for automotive LiBs. The Himeji Plant will introduce a battery cell production line from component processes to assembling to start production from the fiscal year that ends in March 2020.

Recent Development outside Japan

<china>
-In March 2018, the Company announced that Panasonic Automotive Energy Dalian Co., Ltd., an automotive battery joint venture of Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems Company, has started volume shipment at its new automotive lithium-ion battery (LiB) plant in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. The Company has established an automotive LiB production system covering Japan, the U.S., and China, and will meet the needs of electrified vehicle makers.

-In January 2018, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda) will procure lithium-ion batteries (LiB) for its hybrid vehicles (HVs) from the Company for its operations in China. The batteries are currently delivered from Japan, but since the Company has launched commercial production of automotive LiBs in China, Honda will shift to local procurement. The carmaker plans to increase HV sales in China to meet the country's tighter "CAFC" fuel efficiency regulations. While the OEM is adopting batteries supplied by local makers for its electric vehicles to meet new energy vehicle (NEV) regulations, it has chosen the Company as a battery supplier for its HVs in consideration of the two companies' business relationships. This will enable balancing the performance and procurement costs of Honda's HVs.

<thailand>
-In January 2018, Panasonic Appliances Asia Pacific revealed that it is planning to introduce its EV systems and battery technologies in Thailand due to tax incentives by the Thai government.

<india>
-In May 2017, Panasonic India announced its first India Innovation Centre (IIC) to offer disruptive technologies in the field of IoT, Mobility, Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) in association with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is under the aegis of IIC and also, the first innovation hub from India. This state of the art facility will be located at the TCS - Bengaluru.

R&D Activity

Drowsiness-Control Technology
-In July 2017, the Company announced that it has developed a drowsiness-control technology for predicting a driver's level of drowsiness and promoting wakefulness. Key features of this technology include detecting shallow drowsiness the driver is unaware of, predicting transitions in the driver's drowsiness level using artificial intelligence (AI) and other techniques, and then taking steps to prevent a problem from occurring. This technology measures a driver's status in about 1,800 parameters related to blinking features and facial expressions, and other indicators captured by an in-vehicle camera to detect and predict drowsiness, even if the driver is not aware of it, with high precision. Using measurement data such as a person's current drowsiness, the surrounding brightness, and heat loss from the body, this technology estimates the person's drowsiness level several minutes in the future. The Company will start shipping samples in October, with an aim to put this technology to practical use in cooperation with automakers and other customers.

Self-driving technology validation in Fukui Prefecture
-The Company in collaboration with Eiheijicho and Fukui Prefecture will conduct joint validation and testing of self-driving systems on actual roads, between October 3, 2017 and March 31, 2019. The Company plans to use the self-driving technology that it has been testing on vehicles at it in-house testing facilities in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture; in the Keihanna region in Seikacho Sorakugun, Kyoto Prefecture; and in the Kadoma region in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture. This latest collaborative project will be the first time for the self-driving systems to evaluated and tested on public roads. The testing and evaluation activities are being done to advance the commercialization of self-driving electric vehicles for communicating.

Product Development

Telematics Control Unit (TCU)
-The Company announced that it started volume shipment of a telematics control unit (TCU), a new product jointly developed by the Company and Ficosa International S.A., from December 2017.

Electronic interior mirror
-The Company announced in September 2017 that it would jointly develop these mirrors, with Ficosa International and produce them as dealer-installed options for Toyota vehicles. This mirror is equipped with a wide-angle camera that can show rear-view images in the 9.7 inch thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT) monitor mounted on the mirror. Compared to conventional products that use a reflector, this mirror can show a wide, horizontal view. The highly sensitive camera is capable of capturing images at night and in dark tunnels.

-For FY ended March 2018, major investment items of Automotive & Industrial Systems are:

• Expanding production of secondary batteries
• Producing some new on-board vehicle products, infotainment and electronic components, and expanding their production volumes
  
  

Planned Capital Investment

(As of Mar. 31, 2018)