Electronics giant Panasonic plans to build a home appliances plant somewhere in Europe, Senior Managing Director Kazunori Takami although a location has yet to be announced.
The company hopes to launch the plant in 2015, he said in an interview and with other media organizations in Berlin.
Takami said shipping products made at the firm’s Chinese plant to Europe is costly. Panasonic currently has to ship washing machines and fridges it sells in Europe from factories in China or rely on third-party fabricators such as Vestel for washing machines which it produces for Panasonic in Turkey.
Despite a record 772 billion yen (£6 billion) net loss by Panasonic in the business year ended March 31, income is burgeoning at its appliance division, which also makes vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, fridge freezers and other products.
Panasonic will decide on the venue for the new plant after examining market conditions in Europe and Russia, he said. It hopes to produce 1 million refrigerators and washing machines a year at the European base, Takami said.
But Reuters reports that Panasonic has not yet decided where in Europe to locate the new facility and may even consider acquiring an existing plant from another company Mr Takami said in an interview at the company’s main appliance plant at Kusatsu in Shiga prefecture, western Japan. He also declined to say how much Panasonic would spend on the plant.
In fiscal 2011, which ended last March, the company’s home appliance shipments to Europe totaled some ¥40 billion. Panasonic now aims to achieve ¥100 billion in European-bound shipments in fiscal 2015, up from the initially targeted level of ¥80 billion, by increasing shipments of beauty-care products, Mr Takami said.
Panasonic hopes expanded sales of such appliances will help it return to profit growth and counter a slump in sales of its televisions amid weak demand and strong competition from foreign rivals such as Samsung and LG.
“We would like to aim to be number one in appliances,” Takami said, pitting his company against the likes of Whirlpool, Electrolux and LG who all also wish to be the number one appliance manufacturer in the world.