Toyota, Panasonic Form JV Specialising in Prismatic Batteries

Toyota and Panasonic have decided to establish a JV specialising in automotive prismatic batteries with Toyota holding a majority 51 percent stake.

Toyota Motor Corporation and the Panasonic Corporation have announced that they have decided to establish Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, a 51:49 joint venture (JV) specialising in automotive prismatic batteries. Toyota owns a 51 percent stake in the firm, with Panasonic holding the rest.

The decision comes just over a year since the two companies announced on January 22, 2019, that they had concluded a business integration contract and a joint-venture contract toward the establishment of a new company. Toyota and Panasonic have also decided on the outline of the joint venture.

Batteries, as solutions for providing energy for automobiles and various other forms of mobility, and as solutions for various kinds of environmental issues, are expected to fulfill a central role in society going forward – a role that supports people’s lives.

The joint venture announced by Toyota and Panasonic will develop highly competitive, cost-effective batteries that are safe and feature excellent quality and performance (in terms of capacity, output, durability, etc.), enabling use with peace of mind by all customers. Furthermore, the joint venture will supply batteries not only to Toyota but also, broadly and stably, to all customers.

The joint venture’s name embraces Toyota’s and Panasonic’s strong determination to provide their customers―while working in unison with many friends to keep our irreplaceable earth-abundant and clean―broad-ranging, added-value solutions including and beyond the supply of energy in the form of batteries.

The planned start of operations for the JV is April 1, 2020, and will be headed by Hiroaki Koda (Toyota) as Director and President.

Key operations the JV will be involved in are:

• Development, manufacture, and sales of high-capacity and high-output automotive prismatic lithium-ion batteries,
• Development, manufacture, and sales of automotive solid-state batteries,
• Development, manufacture, and sales of next-generation automotive batteries other than those mentioned above (including batteries based on new principles),
• Ancillary and other operations related to the above.