Panasonic in a jam as Tesla taps new battery supplies in China

EV batteries one of the few bright spots for the Japanese electronics maker

A Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicle at factory in Shanghai. Panasonic will no longer be the sole supplier of batteries for the electric vehicle in China. © Reuters

ITSURO FUJINO, KANA WATANABE and TAKESHI SHIRAISHI, Nikkei staff writers

February 4, 2020 13:33 JST

Updated on February 4, 2020 14:53 JST

OSAKA/PALO ALTO -- A bright spot in Panasonic's otherwise disappointing earnings report this week was the improvement in its electric vehicle battery sales to Tesla.

"During the third quarter [the EV battery business] has started to climb out of the red," Hirokazu Umeda, Panasonic's chief financial officer, told reporters.