JUNE 10, 2004

Panasonic consolidates its automotive business

Rumours that Panasonic might be replaced as the title sponsoship of the Toyota F1 team have been rife for some time but although companies such as Microsoft and Sony have been mentioned as possible replacements,

Cristiano da Matta, European GP 2004
© The Cahier Archive

Rumours that Panasonic might be replaced as the title sponsorship of the Toyota F1 team have been rife for some time but although companies such as Microsoft and Sony have been mentioned as possible replacements, Panasonic's strategy remains to expand its operations in the automotive world and as Toyota is one of its biggest customers, the relationship in F1 makes more sense than ever. Panasonic has just announced that it is to split its mobile phone and automotive electronics divisions and establish the Matsumoto plant as its manufacturing base of automotive multimedia products, manufacturing a wide range of automotive electronics from components to systems such as navigation and AV systems.

The Matsumoto plant will also develop advanced automotive electronics production technologies which can then be used in plants around the world.