Following news of Panasonic’s new CEO trying to refine the company’s business model, the company has reportedly sold all of its stake in its biggest car production partner.
On Friday, a Panasonic spokesperson announced that the company had sold its stake in U.S. EV manufacturer Tesla for roughly $3.6 billion USD, according to Reuters.
In 2010, Panasonic bought 1.4 million Tesla shares for roughly $30 million. By the end of March 2020, the same stake was worth $730 million.
Panasonic Expects Increased Tesla Profits in 2021, Boosts Outlook https://t.co/ObmpC8lABA
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) February 3, 2021
Despite the sale, Panasonic says the companies will still continue their ongoing, long-term partnership together, primarily in a production capacity. Panasonic built and later expanded Tesla’s battery production lines at Tesla’s Sparks, Nevada Factory, going on to announce the revolutionary 4680 battery a few months later.
Despite working so closely together, Panasonic’s last CEO also acknowledged that the company would need partners beyond just Tesla in just April. The sale also comes amid a burgeoning EV market, in which competition for Tesla has begun to emerge in new and old companies alike.
Tesla has also grown significantly as its Panasonic partnership has gone on over the years, with the company now having production operations in Shanghai, China, in addition to its Fremont, California and Sparks, Nevada factories – even as new factories are under construction in Austin, Texas and Grünheide, Germany.
