(Reuters) – Panasonic Corp’s outgoing chief executive, Kazuhiro Tsuga, said the company would need to reduce its heavy reliance on Tesla Inc by making batteries more compatible with electric vehicles from other global automakers, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
“At some point, we need to abandon our one-sided approach of relying solely on Tesla,” said Tsuga, who will step down after nine years as CEO from April 1, to the newspaper in an interview.
“We are entering a different phase and we need to keep an eye on the supply of manufacturers other than Tesla.”
The Japanese conglomerate announced in November that Tsuga would step down in April, after nine years in charge, and that Yuki Kusumi, the head of his automotive business, would take over.
Under Tsuga’s leadership, Panasonic shifted its focus from low-margin consumer electronics to batteries, factory machines and components. The company said last month that it expects its battery business, which it supplies to Tesla, to be profitable this fiscal year.
Panasonic partnered with Tesla on a $ 5 billion “gigafactory” battery near Reno, Nevada.
Kanishka Singh reporting in Bengaluru; William Mallard edition