Panasonic ready to invest in Tesla to meet demand for Model 3May 23, 2016 - 10:26 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan's Panasonic Corp is ready to bring forward its investment in a Tesla battery plant it is helping establish if this is required to meet demand for the electric car maker's upcoming Model 3 sedan, Reuters reports. "We will do our best to move up the schedule if requested," Yoshio Ito, head of Panasonic's automotive and industrial systems (AIS) division, told reporters at a briefing on Friday. Panasonic plans to contribute $1.6 billion to Tesla's $5 billion "Gigafactory" in phases over the next few years. Production of the batteries is due to start later this year. A faster ramp-up of the battery plant would be crucial as Tesla has said it would respond to brisk demand for the Model 3 by tooling up its factories to build 500,000 vehicles a year in 2018, two years earlier than planned, Reuters says. Supplier executives and industry consultants have told Reuters that the acceleration in the plans to move up the launch of high-volume production of the Model 3 to 2018 would be difficult to achieve and potentially costly. Ito declined to comment on whether Tesla's target is achievable. "We just don't want to be a bottleneck," he said. Asked about the risks of being heavily involved in Tesla's plans, Ito said Panasonic "hopes to play a balancing act" of ensuring investment returns and fulfilling its responsibilities. Panasonic's partnership with Tesla is part of the Japanese company's effort to withdraw from low-margin consumer electronics like smartphones to focus more on automotive components and other businesses targeting corporate clients. Panasonic is aiming to nearly double its automotive business revenue to 2 trillion yen ($18.2 billion) over the next three years, representing roughly 20 percent of overall sales. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |