Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - (Page 16) 16 • NOVEMBER 24, 2008 ADVERTISING STAFF Japan poised to control key batteries Panasonic-Sanyo deal yet another worry for Detroit 3 Hans Greimel hgreimel@crain.com TOKYO — As if American automakers needed another reason to seek government aid, along comes the seemingly innocuous merger of two Japanese home electronics giants. Panasonic Corp. plans to buy Sanyo Electric Co. by year end. But the takeover is not about building a better camcorder. Instead, it represents Panasonic’s bid to corner a technology essential to the auto industry’s future: batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. Battery juggernaut A combined Panasonic-Sanyo would dominate the field not only for nickel-metal hydride batteries but also for next-generation lithium ion batteries. The worry is that America’s reliance on imported oil will be supplanted by reliance on im- ported batteries. To guarantee an independent supply of this key component, U.S. automakers and would-be battery makers need a lot more than $25 billion in guaranteed government loans. Sure, there are American battery startups such as A123 Systems Inc. Then there are Asian players such as Hitachi Ltd., GS Yuasa Corp., Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. in Japan and South Korea’s Samsung Group and LG Chem Group. But all those would pale in scale, expertise and ambition next to a Panasonic-Sanyo juggernaut. Sanyo is the world’s top producer of lithium ion batteries, albeit mostly for cell phones and computers. Now Sanyo wants 40 percent of the market for hybrid car batteries by 2015. Panasonic accounts for 83 percent of the world’s nickel-metal hydride batteries used in vehicles. By the early 2010s, it plans to make enough batteries for 1 million hybrids. To date, both are the only companies with lengthy experience massproducing batteries for hybrid vehicles. Rolling out lithium ion batteries Advantage: Japan Why Japan’s battery makers are a potent weapon They are poised to provide an essential part of hybrid vehicles: lithium ion batteries They give top priority to their auto partners in Japan Panasonic appears intent on winning the lion’s share of the market, helping partner Toyota or going to electric vehicles is an easy next step. The merger still could fall through. But the big winner if it does go through would be Toyota Motor Corp. Toyota owns 60 percent of Panasonic EV Energy Co., Panasonic’s car battery arm. Toyota’s green-car ambitions certainly would get a boost by bringing Sanyo in house as well. Battery makers say they will sell to any car manufacturer. But will they? Masanori Kitamura, general manager for strategic planning at GS Yuasa, concedes that in a tight market, his company’s first loyalty is to its domes- news Circulation 313-446-0450 Advertising 313-446-6050 Classified Advertising 313-446-6065, 800-388-1800 Web site www.autonews.com ADVERTISING AND SALES DETROIT 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2997 313-446-6790 Fax: 313-446-8030 ANALYSIS tic partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Expect similar constraints at Panasonic-Sanyo, especially if patents with Toyota proliferate. Needed: Battery partner It all spells trouble for any carmaker without a battery partner — including Honda Motor Co. Many Japanese automakers paired with electronics companies to develop hybrid batteries. But Honda sat it out, knowing it always could buy from an unaligned Sanyo. But once Honda’s archrival Toyota is in the driver’s seat, will Sanyo be as cooperative? Ford Motor Co. is another Sanyo customer facing similar uncertainties. U.S. automakers may have more immediate worries right now — such as whether they’ll be in business next year. But if they are in the game for the long haul, they can ill-afford to overlook the quiet cornering of the green-car battery business in foreign hands. c Lithium ion battery maker to speed output GS Yuasa will start mass production in April Hans Greimel hgreimel@crain.com KYOTO, Japan — Masked workers in an airtight clean room carefully weld the tops shut on lithium ion battery cells, one-by-one. Colleagues slowly fill them, by hand, with electrolyte. Need Leadership? StepJones.com It’s tedious, labor intensive work yielding just 90 cells a day, barely enough for one car. But GS Yuasa Corp. promises it will all be a sight of the past in April, when the company opens what it bills as the world’s first mass-production line for automotive lithium ion batteries. In other words, GS Yuasa thinks it can join other Japanese battery makers, such as Toyota’s partner Panasonic, in the quest to create a practical alternative to internal combustion. The power packs will go into the i MiEV electric vehicle that Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will start selling in Japan next summer. GS Yuasa’s new factory will have initial capacity of 200,000 cells, or enough for 2,000 i MiEVs. But that will rise quickly to 100,000, or enough for 10,000 vehicles, and the company is planning plant No. 2. Issue is cost, not safety There is no better sign that lithium ion technology has cleared concerns about safety and is now facing the challenge of cost, says Katsuyuki Ono, a managing director at the battery maker. “Mass production is necessary,” Ono said in an interview at headquarters Nov. 13. “If you make enough for 50,000 cars, you can start to cut the cost. But even that is only by a little.” GS Yuasa is one of several Japanese companies, including Sanyo and Panasonic, vying to pioneer lithium ion batteries in the race for environmentally friendly cars. It manufactures the batteries through a joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors called Lithium Energy Japan. Lithium ion batteries are seen as a breakthrough technology because they are lighter and more powerful than the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in today’s hybrid vehicles. But they are prohibitively expensive — partly because of materials, partly because of manufacturing costs. On the small line at GS Yuasa’s main battery plant in Kyoto, manual processes still prevail. But the factory opening next April in the city of Kusatsu will be fully automated. Rick Greer Director of Sales and Marketing rgreer@crain.com 313-446-6050 Kathleen C. Lightbody, klightbody@crain.com, 313-446-6037 Russ Procassini, rprocassini@crain.com 313-446-0350 Karen Rentschler, krentschler@crain.com 313-446-6058 Jerry Salame, jsalame@crain.com 313-446-0481 Regional Sales Managers Colleen Robar Director of Marketing Communications crobar@crain.com, 313-446-0331 Ellen Dennehy Director of Relationship Marketing edennehy@crain.com, 313-446-6039 Cheryl Rothe, Marketing Manager crothe@crain.com, 313-446-6767 Lance Graves, Promotion Art Director lgraves@crain.com, 313-446-0469 Brandi Johnson, Marketing Coordinator bnjohnson@crain.com, 313-446-0326 Classified Advertising Sales Jim McCarter Marketplace Advertising Director jmccarter@autonews.com, 313-446-6065 Melissa McKay Classified Sales Manager mmckay@autonews.com, 313-446-1642 Denise Hendricks, 313-446-6066 LOS ANGELES Justus Breese jbreese@crain.com, 323-370-2446 Pacific Region Sales Manager Todd Landau, tlandau@crain.com 323-370-2466 Fax: 323-655-8157 Regional Sales Manager 6500 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048-4947 NEW YORK Scott Ghedine sghedine@crain.com, 212-210-0126 Henry Woodhouse hwoodhouse@crain.com, 212-210-0125 Regional Sales Managers 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-4036 Fax: 212-210-0489 CHICAGO Jim Farnan, Regional Sales Manager jfarnan@crain.com, 312-649-5257 360 N. 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Reprints Mike Shober, The YGS Group, 800-494-9051, Ext. 100 automotivenews@theygsgroup.com Microfilm ProQuest Information and Learning Co. 800-521-0600 HANS GREIMEL Turndowns in reserve money paid to dealers since 1999 GS Yuasa’s Masanori Kitamura holds one of the 88 lithium ion batteries that will power Mitsubishi’s i MiEV. The electric car goes on sale in Japan next summer. moving into lithium ion after years of mass producing nickel-metal hydride batteries for such cars as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid. GS Yuasa has yet to see its batteries in any production vehicle. But it remains undaunted. The company started manufacturing lithium ion batteries in 1993 for cell phones and now makes them for a wide variety of uses including satellites, rocket ships, submarines and trains. “We are the rechargeable battery department store,” says Masanori Kitamura, general manager of strategic planning. “We can apply our fundamental technology to any application.”c We approve every customer in writing in 30 seconds or less… so you can convert your turndowns into approvals and sales. Our Guaranteed Credit Approval Program allows you to eliminate customer turndowns and provides 3 different financing programs to meet your customers’ needs and your profit requirements. Isn’t it time you got on the road to capturing incremental business from a growing sub-prime market with Credit Acceptance? 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Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - November 24, 2008 Iacocca tip: 'Equality of sacrifice' Ch. 11 would hit dealers hard â fast Detroit 3: Bankruptcy = doom Down the road and a continent away Used-vehicle demand shrivels O'Neill will lead Power GM tweaks production plan Mitsubishi: No to Detroit Ford will cut more output Nardelli: Chrysler is running on fumes GMAC on brink of bankruptcy, S&P warns Off with their heads! (But whose?) In defense (kind of) of Detroit Bailout Motors? Britain went down that road CEOs could have pre-empted the grilling Ford: We still want Mazda expertise Imports clog ports as sales plunge Volvo's N.A. boss will resume leases to boost volume Nissan expects Chrysler pickup deal will survive Toyota: Venza is a trendsetter, not a crossover It's time to put partisanship aside; Detroit needs help What GM needs is GMAC.2 'Buy American' talk won't help industry Readers weigh in on auto industy woes No one bailed out Oldsmobile It's time to move to mass transport We still need manufacturing Bankruptcy is a bet Let's get wages under control Will America be better off? First step: Bring the jobs home America owes it to GM to help The answer is simple: Leasing What about dealerships? Detroit 3 CEOs must offer to quit Oct. truck sales fall 17.4% Honda plant adds parts center They're sold on Camaro Drawn to Ferrari Japan poised to control key batteries Europe's worst month hits all automakers Dealers BMW: Diesel 7 series could come to U.S. Honda's FC Sport mixes green and go Infiniti G37's hard top retracts in 30 seconds Redesign of Lexus RX series hard to see Mini electric: Jolt comes from sticker Ford hybrid sedans aim at Camry After only 3 years, Ford revamps Fusion Hyundai plans new crossover, turbo engine Restyled Mustang: More refinement, horsepower Honda: Don't count on CR-Z gasoline variant '09 Nissan Z delivers more of what fans like Mazda3 gets new look, powertrains Nissan Cube joins the box brigade Infiniti upgrades powertrains Lincoln MKZ gets a makeover Porsche won't stall Panamera 2010 GLK priced below rival Bentley's Azure T gets 500 hp Detroit 3 squeezed by credit, cash â politics Waxman could mean trouble for Detroit GM formulates a 'Plan B' if it doesn't get federal loan Infiniti replaces Igo Sharks vs. Jets, D.C.-style What's good for â uh, how'd that go again? Mazda deal imperils Ford training ground More like Toyota, Honda? Careful what you wish for Maybe he's Buck-a-year Bob now Romney: Bankruptcy, not bailout Automotive News - November 24, 2008 Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - (Page Intro) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Detroit 3: Bankruptcy = doom (Page 1) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Detroit 3: Bankruptcy = doom (Page 2) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Ford will cut more output (Page 3) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Off with their heads! (But whose?) (Page 4) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Off with their heads! (But whose?) (Page 5) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - CEOs could have pre-empted the grilling (Page 6) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - CEOs could have pre-empted the grilling (Page 7) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Volvo's N.A. boss will resume leases to boost volume (Page 8) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Volvo's N.A. boss will resume leases to boost volume (Page 9) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Toyota: Venza is a trendsetter, not a crossover (Page 10) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Toyota: Venza is a trendsetter, not a crossover (Page 11) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - 'Buy American' talk won't help industry (Page 12) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - 'Buy American' talk won't help industry (Page 13) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Detroit 3 CEOs must offer to quit (Page 14) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Drawn to Ferrari (Page 15) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Japan poised to control key batteries (Page 16) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Dealers (Page 17) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Dealers (Page 18) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Dealers (Page 19) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Dealers (Page 20) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Dealers (Page 21) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Dealers (Page 22) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Mini electric: Jolt comes from sticker (Page 23) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Restyled Mustang: More refinement, horsepower (Page 24) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Bentley's Azure T gets 500 hp (Page 25) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Bentley's Azure T gets 500 hp (Page 26) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - GM formulates a 'Plan B' if it doesn't get federal loan (Page 27) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Infiniti replaces Igo (Page 28) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Infiniti replaces Igo (Page 29) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Romney: Bankruptcy, not bailout (Page 30) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Romney: Bankruptcy, not bailout (Page 31) Automotive News - November 24, 2008 - Romney: Bankruptcy, not bailout (Page 32)
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