Japanese manufacturer and battery maker Panasonic dives on Tesla fatal crash probe
Panasonic shares tumbled today after US authorities launched a probe into last week’s fatal crash involving a Tesla Model X in California.
The Japanese manufacturer has a joint venture with the Californian electric cars maker to produce lithium-ion batteries for its sought-after cars.
The batteries of this particular car caught fire immediately after the crash and emergency officials consulted company engineers before they were able to put out the fire. Tesla shares slumped as news of the investigation emerged.
Panasonic’s car batteries business has grown significantly in the past few years since its partnership with Tesla, the biggest lithium-ion batteries consumer in the world.
Panasonic has five batteries factories in Japan, one in China and one in Nevada for Tesla.
Analysts have worried that Panasonic’s fortunes are now highly dependent on Tesla’s strategy.
Toyota and Honda are also customers for Panasonic’s car batteries.
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