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TOKYO (AP) — Japan has slipped to the world’s fourth-largest economy as government data released Thursday showed it fell behind the size of Germany's in 2023. Japan fell from the second-ranked economy behind the U.S. to the third-largest in 2010 as China's economy grew. The comparisons among nations’ economies look at nominal GDP, which doesn’t reflect some different national conditions, and is in dollar terms. Japan’s nominal GDP totaled $4.2 trillion last year, or about 591 trillion yen. The gap between developed countries and emerging nations is shrinking, with India certain to overtake Japan in nominal GDP in a few years, Okazaki said.

Persons: Germany’s, Japan’s, Tetsuji Okazaki, ”, Okazaki, Konosuke Matsushita, ___ Yuri Kageyama Organizations: TOKYO, —, Monetary Fund, Japan, University of Tokyo, Honda, Honda Motor Co, Panasonic Corp, Japan Inc Locations: — Japan, Japan, Germany, India, U.S

☆ Panasonic’s auto deal deserves a speedy sequel
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Nov 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Panasonic’s (6752.T)decision to sell part of its automotive unit suggests CEO Yuki Kusumi’s plans are taking a promising turn. The business, which pioneers technology like infotainment systems for the next generation of internet-connected cars, is a growing but capital-intensive opportunity. Selling a stake to Apollo Global Management (APO.N), with the possibility of a listing later, could help fund faster development without denting Panasonic’s balance sheet or returns. This was an obvious target for Kusumi, who previously led the auto unit. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Toru Hanai, Yuki Kusumi’s, Panasonic’s, it’s, Katrina Hamlin, Francesco Guerrera, Thomas Shum Organizations: Panasonic Corp, Advanced Technologies, Makuhari, REUTERS, Reuters, Apollo Global Management, Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, X, Walmart, Thomson Locations: JAPAN, Chiba, Japan, HONG KONG, Asia, Rome

☆ Panasonic plans to sell stake in autos business to Apollo Global funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A logo of Panasonic Corp is pictured at the CEATEC JAPAN 2017 (Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies) at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Holdings (6752.T) said on Friday it plans to sell a stake in its automotive systems business to funds managed by U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with an Apollo affiliate. Continued investment in the automotive systems business would be necessary to achieve sustained growth for the company amid a rapid shift to electric cars and changes to vehicle architecture, Panasonic said. The automotive unit makes cockpit and electronics systems. It is separate from Panasonic's energy unit that makes batteries for electric vehicles, including those from Tesla (TSLA.O).

Persons: Toru Hanai, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Panasonic Corp, Advanced Technologies, Makuhari, REUTERS, Rights, Japan's Panasonic Holdings, U.S, Apollo Global Management, Apollo, Panasonic, Thomson Locations: JAPAN, Chiba, Japan, Tokyo

☆ Tesla plans $3.6 bln Nevada expansion to make Semi truck, battery cells
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The cell plant would be able to make enough batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually, including batteries using the 4680-type cell. The 4680 is key to Tesla meeting a goal of halving battery costs and ramping up battery production nearly 100-fold by 2030. Panasonic currently supplies cells to the gigafactory, and Tesla assembles them into battery packs there. Tesla has struggled to ramp up production of the 4680 at its factories in Fremont, California, and Austin, Texas. The EV maker aimed to produce 50,000 Semis in 2024, Musk said on a post-earnings call in October.

☆ U.S. offers $700 million loan to EV battery material project
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department said Friday it has offered a conditional commitment to lend up to $700 million to Ioneer (INR.AX) Rhyolite Ridge LLC to mine lithium carbonate for electric vehicle batteries in Nevada. The Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project could potentially support production of lithium for approximately 370,000 EVs each year and reduce annual gasoline consumption by nearly 145 million gallons, the department said. The Rhyolite Ridge project has agreements to supply Ford Motor (F.N), Prime Planet Energy & Solutions a Toyota Motor (7203.T) and Panasonic Corp (6752.T) joint venture, and others. Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Musk had made the remark in a video call with President Yoon Suk-yeol, adding that the company planned to step up cooperation with South Korea on supply chains, Yoon's office said. As Yoon was aware of Tesla's plans to build a factory in Asia in the future, his office said, Yoon asked Musk to build the factory in South Korea. In response, Musk said he considered South Korea to be one of the top candidates and would make the decision after reviewing investment conditions in other countries, including labour quality, technology level and production infrastructure. "We expect to buy components worth more than $10 billion from South Korean firms in 2023 as we significantly expand supply chain cooperation with South Korean companies," Yoon's office quoted Musk as saying. Yoon said in the discussion he would reform unreasonable regulations that hindered investment by global tech companies, according to Yoon's office.

☆ Redwood Materials to supply cathode material to Panasonic U.S. battery plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Paul Lienert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp (6752.T) will buy remanufactured battery cathode material from Redwood Materials, beginning in 2025, for the Japanese battery maker’s new Kansas plant, the companies said on Tuesday. Those targets are a focus of U.S. President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to build up a battery materials supply base in North America. “The IRA just accelerated this entire transition” of the battery supply chain, Redwood Materials Chief Executive J.B. Straubel said in an interview. He expects the company to be the first to produce cathode material at volume in North America. Redwood recycles Panasonic scrap materials from that factory, and has an agreement to supply Panasonic at the Nevada plant with remanufactured anode copper foil.

☆ Everything you want to know about Big Tech's disappointing earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

For today's newsletter, I caught up with some finance pros over the weekend to get a sense of what we can learn from last week's earnings disappointments. Tech earnings were a huge disappointment and analysts don't see much relief on the horizon. "The common thread between the mega cap tech earnings reports this week is the companies' unwillingness to cut costs aggressively ahead of an economic slowdown, in spite of investor expectations," he said. What was your biggest takeaway from last week's Big Tech earnings? On the company's earnings call, its CFO said the surging dollar has cost Amazon more than $900 million more than expected.

The deal includes a commitment from PPES that ioneer's lithium will be used to build EV battery parts inside the United States for the U.S. EV market. "The whole purpose of this agreement is for this lithium to be used in the United States," James Calaway, ioneer's executive chairman, told Reuters. The amount of lithium that ioneer will supply PPES is enough to make batteries for about 150,000 EVs annually, though that figure would vary depending on design and other factors. Australia-based ioneer aims to produce about 21,000 tonnes of lithium in Nevada annually starting in 2025. It signed a supply deal with Ford Motor Co (F.N) in mid-July and last year with South Korea's Ecopro Co (086520.KQ).

☆ Mexican union calls for U.S. probe into alleged labor abuses at Panasonic plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-18 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"They were given a contract they didn't even know about," Moreno said of the Panasonic deal with rival union SIAMARM. The dispute at Panasonic grew out of a vote last year in which workers rejected their union contract. Labor authorities then scheduled a vote April 21-22 for workers to choose between two other unions vying to take over the contract - SNITIS and SIAMARM. However, SNITIS says Panasonic signed a contract with SIAMARM ahead of the April election and began to withhold union dues from worker paychecks. SIAMARM, part of one of Mexico's biggest labor groups, the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), could not be reached for comment.

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