Panasonic focuses on improving productivity or postpones plans to build a third battery factory in the United States
Recently, Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi stated that the company must focus on improving productivity, indicating that Panasonic may delay plans to establish a third battery factory in North America due to cooling demand for electric vehicles.
Previously, Panasonic Energy stated that the company aimed to establish its third battery factory in North America by the end of March. But Kusumi said that decisions will only be made when the timing is right. I have always advocated that before setting up a third factory, we need to thoroughly consider improving productivity. My main instruction to the energy sector is to prioritize increasing the output of existing investments rather than deciding on the location of a third factory.
Considering the demand for human resources in new factories, it is generally better to reduce production locations. By improving processes such as machine maintenance, there is still room to increase production capacity, and any enterprise will experience time lag due to environmental changes. Although global consumer demand for electric vehicles continues to grow, in major markets such as the United States and Europe, demand for electric vehicles has cooled down and profitability is not as expected by industry executives It's so high. " He added that.
In addition, Kusumi stated that Panasonic hopes the energy sector can improve its production in order to generate profits without relying on the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Prior to Kusumi's statement, Panasonic Energy North America President Allan Swan stated during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that despite giving up preliminary plans to build a factory in Oklahoma last year, the company still plans to establish a third electric vehicle battery plant in the United States. Swan did not provide further details, but he stated that as a supplier to Tesla, Tesla still needs "more factories" to achieve its goal of increasing annual production capacity from the current 50 GWh (gigawatt hours) to 200 GWh by 2031. We have been searching for potential locations, and Oklahoma remains one of the options.
Considering the demand for human resources in new factories, it is generally better to reduce production locations. By improving processes such as machine maintenance, there is still room to increase production capacity, and any enterprise will experience time lag due to environmental changes. Although global consumer demand for electric vehicles continues to grow, in major markets such as the United States and Europe, demand for electric vehicles has cooled down and profitability is not as expected by industry executives It's so high. " He added that.
In addition, Kusumi stated that Panasonic hopes the energy sector can improve its production in order to generate profits without relying on the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Prior to Kusumi's statement, Panasonic Energy North America President Allan Swan stated during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that despite giving up preliminary plans to build a factory in Oklahoma last year, the company still plans to establish a third electric vehicle battery plant in the United States. Swan did not provide further details, but he stated that as a supplier to Tesla, Tesla still needs "more factories" to achieve its goal of increasing annual production capacity from the current 50 GWh (gigawatt hours) to 200 GWh by 2031. We have been searching for potential locations, and Oklahoma remains one of the options.